NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Rediff Shopping

Shop & gift from thousands of products!   Books     Music       Apparel   Jewellery   Flowers   More..      Safe Shopping

Bihar minister charged with bungling

Our Correspondent in Patna

The police have filed a first information report against Water Resources Minister Jagadanand Singh and 23 senior officials, including water resources secretary Radha Singh, on orders from the chief judicial magistrate, on Sunday.

The order came following a petition by assistant engineer Radheshyam Pandey, who had been suspended thrice on various charges in 11 years. He was first arrested during the Emergency under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act. He won that case after the Emergency was lifted.

The FIR against the minister has been lodged under Sections 409, 420, 120B, 468, 471, 167, 199, 193 and 109 of the Indian Penal Code. Several of these sections are non-bailable.

Pandey had charged that they were involved in bungling in the department, to the tune of several lakhs.

The minister told newsmen that Pandey took legal shelter, as he was facing suspension following the detection of defalcation worth crores.

"He moved the high court to escape departmental proceedings. This will not stop departmental proceedings against him," he stated.

Jagadanand is considered an upright and least controversial minister in the Rabri Devi cabinet and this case has come as a surprise.

A senior department official told rediff.com that this was not the first time there were departmental proceedings against Pandey. He had sought the court's intervention as he feared that the department will dismiss him.

He has also charged Radha Singh though she was not in the department in 1993.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report