Vigilance bid to quiz IAS man ‘fails’

PATNA: The dilly-dallying attitude of the Jharkhand police has put the Bihar vigilance bureau in a difficult situation over taking a criminal case against the commercial tax commissioner of Jharkhand, Ashok Kumar Singh, to its logical conclusion.
Vigilance bureau sources said that Singh was served notice twice to present himself for interrogation in connection with the criminal charges against him, but he did not pay any heed to the notices.Then, the bureau requested Jharkhand police to hand over the IAS officer to it so that he could be subjected to custodial interrogation.
The sources said that instead of cooperating, the Jharkhand police wrote to the bureau a few days ago to first procure a warrant of arrest against Singh. Reacting to the ‘attitude’ of the Jharkhand police, the Bihar vigilance bureau shot off a letter quoting Section 41 of the criminal procedure code. It pointed out that under the CrPC the police have got sufficient powers to arrest anyone without being armed with a warrant of arrest. Therefore, there was no need for procuring an arrest warrant against Singh, the letter stated.
The Bihar vigilance bureau had filed an FIR on August 21, 2002 against Ashok Kumar Singh under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 420, 267, 468, 471, 477, and 120 (B) besides 13 (1D) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The IPC sections deal with cheating, misuse of official position and criminal intimidation.
According to the FIR, Singh had formed two non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Samvedna and Green Earth India. During his tenure as the managing director of the Bihar State Financial Corporation, he used to force industrialists to donate handsomely to these two organisations. The donations used to be appropriated by Singh, and, in this way, he amassed over Rs 20 lakh. In lieu of the donations, industrialists were given ‘soft treatment’ in extending credit.
The sources further said that initially Ashok Kumar Singh was named as the ‘owner’ of the two organisations. Later, someone else was named as the owner of the NGOs, but, in fact, Singh used to remote control the affairs of Samvedna and Green Earth India.
The vigilance bureau sources confirmed that they were gearing up to arrest Ashok Kumar Singh for his custodial interrogation in the case.