Liquor controversy swirls around Nitish Kumar

Elections to the Bihar legislative assembly are scheduled for October-November and twice-elected Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's political opponents are trying to tarnish his reputation by highlighting the circumstances that led to the sacking of his Excise Minister Jamshed Ashraf in February. Ashraf has alleged that the state government is neck-deep in a scandal involving evasion of taxes on liquor that has led to revenue losses worth Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion), a charge the chief minister denies.

A criminal case was registered on June 5 by Nonu Singh, a resident of Belhari village in Gaya district, in the court of the chief judicial magistrate in Patna against Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, five senior bureaucrats and others in the alleged excise scam. It has been claimed that particular distilleries were favoured by the government in a manner that caused revenue losses to the exchequer. Among the witnesses that have been sought to be summoned in the case is Ashraf.

Nitish Kumar has countered his former minister's allegations by describing them as 'unfortunate, undignified, malicious and unbecoming of a minister'. The chief minister has argued that he breached the oath of secrecy he had sworn to uphold when he assumed office as a minister. Moreover, Nitish Kumar counter-alleged that Ashraf stalled 'progressive measures' aimed at curbing illegal sales of liquor in Bihar. The former excise minister, however, stands by his allegations that the so-called scam was masterminded by a coterie of officials who are being protected by the chief minister and that he (Ashraf) was removed from his post because he exposed their acts of corruption. Some of these officials, he alleges, are extremely influential and work in Nitish Kumar's secretariat. The chief minister, in turn, claims the allegations are baseless, that no one can influence him and further, that he cannot be bribed or bought.

In late June, the high court in Patna will hear a public interest petition claiming that the chief minister and a group of senior bureaucrats were involved in the liquor scam. Though the court had earlier rejected two PIL petitions on the subject on the ground that substantial evidence had not been provided and that the allegations were based on media reports, the court has observed that the third petition, moved by Ajit Sarthi, a social activist, was prima facie maintainable. Hearing on the petition will take place once the court resumes on June 21 after its summer vacation.