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CBI shuffle sparks speculation about Biswas's fate

The politically sensitive Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam case will be supervised from Delhi by Central Bureau of Investigation Special Director Trinath Mishra.

Involving former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav -- who was released in December after being remanded to judicial custody in August -- the move has sparked speculation that CBI Joint Director (east) U N Biswas is being relieved of the investigations in the case.

However, CBI spokesman S M Khan told Rediff On The NeT, ''It is just a routine administrative assignment of work. Earlier, D R Karthikeyan was supervising the fodder scam. Now that Karthikeyan has been appointed CBI director, the case has been assigned to Mishra.''

Biswas had caused the establishment a lot of embarrassment by moving the Patna high court, seeking the army's intervention to arrest the chief minister.

Biswas's request, which was contrary to prevailing norms, had shocked Parliament, and Home Minister Inderjit Gupta came down heavily on the decision. Though the high court had orally okayed the request, the army was stunned and refused to give in.

Laloo Yadav had then alleged that Biswas was playing into the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samata Party, the principal Opposition parties in Bihar.

Along with Laloo Yadav, other prominent politicians including former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra were chargesheeted in the case. Mishra has since quit the Congress, protesting against the party's alliance with Laloo Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal.

The fodder case has become a major campaign issue for the BJP with its prime ministerial candidate Atal Bihari Vajpayee entertaining the crowds at his rallies at Laloo Yadav's expense, talking about a cow surrendering before a magistrate pleading guilty of consuming fodder.

Any change in the investigation of the fodder scam would have a political fallout, particularly on election eve. Besides, the agency has given an undertaking to the Patna high court, assuring that no official handling the case would be disturbed without the court's permission.

Apart from the fodder scam, Trinath Mishra will supervise all the anti-corruption work for north, south, east, west and Delhi zones.

The Special Investigation Team, which had been constituted to go into the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, would still be directly supervised by Karthikeyan.

Additional Director G Achari will supervise anti-corruption work at CBI headquarters and also the special crime and the task force. Economic offences of all the zones would be handled by Additional Director P C Sharma.

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