As evidence in the LOC scam piles up, Mahanta's only escape could be the confusion at the Centre.

By Avirook Sen

Delegates at a recent astrology conference in Guwahati were almost unanimous that the Government led by Prafulla Mahanta would fall before the Assamese festival of Bihu to be held in January. Political observers in Assam, who have been watching events rather than stars, say that it didn't need an astrologer to make the prediction. Two crucial things have happened in recent months: Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) ministers are now under scrutiny for their alleged links with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), specially those forged just before the last assembly elections in the state in 1996; and Mahanta's fate now depends on how quickly -- and in which direction -- a particular file in the Union Law Ministry moves.

The CBI has forwarded to the Law Ministry the file which the country's premier investigative agency believes contains prima facie evidence against Mahanta in the Rs 400 crore Letter of Credit (LOC) Scam. If the Law Ministry gives the nod, only a formality remains before Mahanta is chargesheeted: the governor's approval. If this happens before Bihu, the superstitious Assam chief minister will probably blame the stars. If he survives, he will have only one man to thank: Union Law Minister Ramakant Khalap.

During two successive governments between 1986 and 1992, both the AGP and the Congress were involved in drawing large sums of money from the Assam treasury against fake letters of credit issued by the state's veterinary and animal husbandry departments. An investigation showed that the expenditure against the LOCs was lower than the sums withdrawn. Where did the money go? If the CBI file making its way up to Khalap is to be believed, some of it went into funding the AGP, specifically Mahanta's election expenses.

But in a system where charge-sheets are as much a political weapon -- people holding official positions find they can no longer hold on to them -- as the course of law, the implications of prosecuting Mahanta have taken precedence over whether he is guilty. During H.D. Deve Gowda's truncated prime ministerial stint, there was practically no movement on the case. Many believe that was because Deve Gowda and Mahanta got along well, a fact that the then CBI director Joginder Singh understood only too well. However, Mahanta does not share the same rapport with Deve Gowda's successor I.K. Gujral -- the prime minister did not grant the Assam chief minister time during the Tata Tea imbroglio -- and the file suddenly has found new legs.

What is the evidence against the chief minister?

An investigation carried out earlier showed that at least 12 benami construction firms were recipients of fake LOCs. One of these belonged to the prime accused in the case, Rajen Bora, who now says that he made contributions to the chief minister's constituency by issuing bank drafts that were handed over by Mahanta to organisations that were supporting his election bid.

Bora also paid the airfares of Mahanta and several of his AGP colleagues.

Bora says he is willing to spill more if the CBI grants him approver status. He even got the signatures of over 40 MPs in Delhi to support his plea. But says CBI Director R.C. Sharma: "There is no chance he will be made an approver because he is the prime accused. We cannot let him off because he gives evidence about another person under investigation."

Although Mahanta was on edge when Sharma appeared before a division bench of the Guwahati High Court on November 10, the man who is looked upon as his number one trouble- shooter, state Additional Advocate General Pranab Pathak, dismisses Bora's claims: "The money was transferred in drafts signed by Bora, so where does Mahanta come in?"

The CBI, of course, is taking a different view. Says Sharma: "If people have allegedly conspired to misuse funds, as in the case of Laloo Yadav in the fodder scam, direct evidence isn't the only indication of complicity."

Only the last of 11 charge-sheets remain to be filed in the LOC case. And the Guwahati High Court has already pulled up the CBI for the delay in presenting its final report. On November 10, the CBI counsel, K.N. Bhat, asked for more time because "there were certain differences in the CBI's legal cell" over how to treat evidence gathered in the inordinately delayed Demow case, where Mahanta is allegedly implicated. The court gave the CBI time till December 8 after its counsel said that the final report has gone to the Law Ministry for perusal: "Under normal circumstances the ministry disposes cases fairly quickly," said Bhat. But things aren't exactly normal at the Centre at present. The longer it stays that way, the better it is for Mahanta.

Write to us | Subscriptions

© Living Media India Ltd