GUWAHATI, Jan 18: In an attempt to contain the political damage caused by his being named in the Letter of Credit (LoC) scam, Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has filed a fresh writ petition in the Guwahati High Court, seeking to challenge the decision of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to indict him.The petition comes even as the CBI is yet to respond to Governor S K Sinha's request for more evidence before he decides to grant sanction for Mahanta's prosecution.
Justice J N Sharma, in whose court the petition was admitted on January 16, directed that a personal notice be served to CBI chief R C Sharma. Mahanta alleged mala fide action on the part of Sharma while preparing the final report of the investigations.
Incidentally, Mahanta had earlier impleaded himself in the case but when the CBI approached the Governor for sanction, the court said that the matter had now been referred to a high Constitutional authority and its monitoring of the probe was over. The Chief Minister then
did not press his case.
Governor Sinha has asked CBI to submit 13 more documents and answers to 24 other queries to substantiate its claim that Mahanta was involved. The CBI is yet to file its response.
On Friday, speaking to reporters at Golaghat in upper Assam, Sinha said that he would grant the sanction after he was satisfied with the reply of the CBI. Sinha has reportedly asked for evidence to establish that Mahanta received Rs 40 lakhs, as alleged by prime accused Rajen Bora. The Governor has also asked CBI to file evidence, if any, of Mahanta and his family having assets disproportionate to known sources of income.
The political impact of the LoC scam and of Mahanta's being named in it, is already being felt. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have made it an election issue while the ruling Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and its allies are yet to begin any election-related activity. Sources in AGP said that yesterday's writ petition would force the CBI to respond.
Of the list of
candidates from the AGP-led four-party alliance, so far only five names out of 14 have been announced and no AGP candidate figures in it. The AGP has apparently kept nine seats for itself, while the CPI(M) has been allotted two. The CPI and Janata Dal have been given one seat each, while one seat has been allotted to an independent supported by the alliance.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
