Bhopal: Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan seems to be caught in his own trap.
The General Administration Department, a department that reports to Chauhan, filed an affidavit in the High Court requesting it to clear SR Mohanty's name off the 700 crore inter corporate scam of the State Industrial Development Corporation (SIDC) on January 18.
Investigations revealed that two IAS officers SR Mohanty and MP Rajan, the two Managing Directors of SIDC, had forwarded loans worth Rs 378 crore to 47 industrialists from and outside the state of which all but one defaulted. MP Rajan left the IAS and now Mohanty is scot-free.
Chauhan says he was not informed about the affidavit and though Mohanty has received a clean chit, Chauhan pledges to put things straight by passing the buck.
"I did not know that such an affidavit had been filed and so, we have decided to take action against the two officers who issued it and move the Supreme court," says Chauhan.
In the wake of controversies over an affidavit filed in the High Court in the alleged Rs 700 crore inter-corporate deposit (ICD) scam, Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Vijay Singh was on Saturday removed from the post.
Chouhan had on Friday told reporters that the matter relating to submission of the affidavit would be probed and action would be taken against those found guilty.
Following the affidavit, the High Court had recently ordered cancellation of FIR filed against a senior official by State Economic Offences wing, which is probing the scam.
The Chief Secretary's removal - for his alleged involvement in furnishing a false affidavit to the Jabalpur High Court - was ordered by Chauhan.
The Madhya Pradesh government on Saturday appointed 1972 batch IAS officer R C Sahni as its new Chief Secretary.
Former union minister Prahlad Patel said, "The chief minister instead of getting to the bottom of the scam is trying to save the prepators."
Whatever be the outcome of the Supreme Court's decision, one thing is clear - Chauhan needs to exert more authority over the bureaucracy.
Meanwhile, the BJP government has handed over the case to the Economic Offences Wing. Government had come under sharp attack from leaders, including Leader of Opposition Jamuna Devi.
(With inputs from Hemendra Sharma and Savvy Soumya)
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