Politicians at their old game -2

HC stays transfer of I-T director probing Koda scam
Manohar Lal, TNN, Feb 23, 2010, 09.22pm IST

RANCHI: The transfer of income tax director (investigation) Ujjwal Chaudhary has been stayed by the Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday. He was heading the investigation of the money laundering scam involving former chief minister Madhu Koda and others.

Hearing the interlocutory petition on the public interest litigation filed by Durga Oraon in connection with the disproportionate assets (DA) case of Koda and former ministers demanding a stay on the transfer of Chaudhary, a division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Gyan Sudha Misra and Justice R R Prasad, ordered a status quo on the transfer for three weeks.
The court also asked Oraon to file another petition challenging the transfer of Chaudhary, who was shifted on February 19 and specify the allegations. Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Reetu Kumar argued that the official was transferred within seven months of taking charge and was responsible for raids in over 140 locations, which unearthed undeclared assets worth several crores.

Claiming that the official's transfer was malicious in design, Kumar alleged that it was done at the behest of those involved in the scam. She said the last director (investigation) S C Jha had served for three years before being transferred and added that Chaudhary's transfer at this stage would certainly affect the probe.

The HC then asked the I-T department counsel to explain why the transfer should not be stayed to which he failed to give a satisfactory reply, merely saying it was a "routine transfer". The Bench observed that it was difficult to digest that the transfer of an official in just seven months was a routine transfer.
Chaudhary was transferred from director (investigation) to commissioner (central) by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on February 19.

It was under his supervision that joint teams of I-T and Enforcement Directorate raided 69 places on October 31, last year, including the residences of Koda and managed to unearth a multi-billion money laundering scam. Similar raids were carried out at over 70 locations of several serving and former government officials, inlcuding chief minitser Shibu Soren's personal secretary Manohar Lal Paul and two former state electricity board chiefs, by the I-T department alone on February 16 this year and undeclared assets of over Rs 100 crore were found. Chaudhary was camping in Chaibasa that day when he was given the marching orders.

Hearing the main petition of the DA case, the Bench asked the ED to file a status report on the findings made so far by March 16 and why the case should not be handed over to CBI for further investigation.
Oraon had demanded a CBI probe into assets acquired by former ministers Enos Ekka, Harinarayan Rai, Kamlesh Singh, Bandhu Tirkey, Bhanu Pratap Sahi and Dulal Bhuiyan as well as Koda and his associates, Binod Sinha and Sanjay Choudhary. He had also demanded a CBI probe into the assets of water resources minister Chandraprakash Choudhary. Oraon had alleged in his petition that all these ex-ministers had amassed huge wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income while holding office.


On the 21st I had posted under the heading "Politicians at their old game" how the government was transferring Ujjwal Chowdhary as he was getting too close for comfort of some of the politicians.
We are now seeing that the High Court has stayed his transfer.
Let us hope he is allowed to investigate thoroughly and have the guilty punished.