Ranchi, Aug 4 (IANS) The Jharkhand High Court Wednesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against former chief minister Madhu Koda and six ex-ministers for amassing assets more than their known sources of income.
‘A division bench, comprising acting Chief Justice Sushil Harkoli and Justice D.N. Patel, ordered a CBI probe against Madhu Koda and six ex-ministers,’ Rajiv Kumar, lawyer of petitioner Durga Oraon, told IANS.
‘Besides them, the CBI will also probe two key associates of Koda – Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary. The court will also monitor the case,’ he added.
The state government has been opposing the CBI probe ever since a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by Durga Oraon in October 2008.
Oraon had sought a probe into the assets of Koda and six former ministers — Harinarayan Rai, Enos Ekka, Kamlesh Singh, Bhanu Pratap Sahi, Chandra Prakash Choudhary and Dulal Bhuiyan, who were in Koda’s cabinet between September 2006 and August 2008.
Koda, Ekka, Rai and Kamlesh Singh are in jail in the graft case. They were arrested by the vigilance bureau last year. The vigilance bureau had filed a chargesheet against them.
The Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the houses of Koda and his associates in October last year and February this year.
The ED filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Koda and the three jailed ex-ministers.
The two key associates of Koda – Sinha and Chaudhary – are absconding.
