The present Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government after assuming power in March this year had formed a ministerial sub-committee for in-depth study of charges of corruption and other irregularities levelled against the previous Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) government. Stating this, minister of state for home Haren Pandya on Sunday said the purchase scandal was found to be meriting further probe by the ACB after a deep analysis by the sub-committee.

And, even as Pandya announced the decision to have the ``shady purchase deal'' probed by the ACB, the BJP Government continued to vacillate on its much-publicised decision to ask the CBI to probe into a ``transportscandal'' allegedly involving two former RJP ministers and three IAS officers.

Pandya announced that Additional Secretary (Home) K D Mahida had lodged a criminal complaint with the ACB against Chaudhary, his mother Kankuben, Bansal, and one Shrikant Khedkar for their alleged involvement in the purchase of vehicles worth Rs 5.32 crore for the police department.

This is the second time the BJP has sought to impilcate a retired police officer of the DGP rank in a criminal case. Earlier, Additional DGP (prisons) Kannu Pillai was implicated in the Sabarmati Central Jail break case which later turned out to be a hoax when Gujarat High Court quashed the charges after a CBI report indicted the Government in 1995.

A senior police official said the decision to have the ``vehicle purchase scandal'' probed by the ACB might not yield results unless there was documentary evidence. Besides, the ACB Director (the 1965 IPS batch) is junior to former DGP Bansal (the 1963 batch).

The government in its complaint hasalleged that both Chaudhary and Bansal had misused their respective official positions with a dishonest intention of deriving personal monetary gains out of the deal.

The ministerial sub-committee, which studies the cases of irregularities allegedly committed by the previous RJP government, consists of Suresh Mehta, Vajubhai Vala, Ashok Bhatt, Jainarayan Vyas and Haren Pandya. The present case is based on purchase of police vehicles which were procured through a Mehsana-based partnership firm named Rajkamal Motors wherein Chaudhary, the then home minister, was said to be a partner.

Pandya has stated that the government would continue unearthing more such deals and was committed to rooting out corruption.