The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI probe into the alleged attempt by staff and engineers of the Jharkhand Road Construction Department (RCD) to siphon off crores of rupees meant for the purchase of bitumen for construction of roads. A Division Bench, comprising Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice D K Sinha, asked the CBI to “institute an inquiry and submit a progress report within three months”.

The HC was acting on a PIL filed by one Mohammed Tahir, who had enclosed details showing that during the tenure of former CM Madhu Koda (2007-08), the staff and engineers of the RCD had withdrawn over Rs 50 crore from the treasury by furnishing bogus bills, as revealed by the Accountant General.

Auditors came across 352 receipts indicating they had bought 39,395 metric tonne of bitumen from three PSUs — Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. On scrutiny, they found that 41 of these receipts were bogus. “While the receipts showed the bitumen was purchased and stored in the godowns, registers of these godowns did not have their entry,” stated the AG report.

Following the AG’s report,the RCD had ordered an inquiry. “Our department found that the findings of the AG’s report were correct,” Secretary (RCD) N N Sinha said. Though Governor Syed Sibtey Razi ordered a Vigilance probe, the bureau could not start investigations as the Jharkhand High Court had already admitted Tahir’s plea.

During 1996-98, in erstwhile Bihar, a group of engineers and politicians had furnished fake bills and siphoned off public funds amounting to over Rs 130 crore for “purchasing bitumen”.

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