Kamla Kant Jha vs The State of Bihar and Others

This is a matter which initially began with non-payment of the pension of one Primary School teacher in the district of Madhubani. Slowly the facts were emerging that there were no funds to pay pension or retiral dues to the Primary School teacher. It came out on record that more than thirty years ago the entire fund from which the emoluments of Primary School teacher were paid disappeared. That the entire fund of any class of service, whether a primary school teacher or otherwise should simply disappear from the deposit account (in the present case. Post Office) is horrible. It is scandalous. This is public money. This is tax payers money meant for paying Salary to public servants. A primary school teacher is perhaps the lowest paid employee but his functions are very important. It is he who removes illiteracy amongst the young generation.

Now the records have come, chapter and verse of correspondence between the Director of Education and the District Magistrate that during the decade of 1970s, Rs. 30,00,000/- disappeared. The communication between these two authorities mentioned

If this has happened in Madhubani district then what may have been in other districts one would not know. But that the entire amount should disappear even in one district is a serious matter. What inquiry is going to be made? For instance, if the Primary School teacher who had retired in 1976, at the age of 60 years (unless it was less) he would be approximately 96 years today. Will such people be alive to permit an investigation which is so lightly being talked of.

The Court has desired that these matters be brought to the notice of the Secretary, Primary Education because it needs a thorough probe and perhaps an inquiry whether this disease may have spread to other districts. Not only this, at that time, Bihar had not been bifurcated and all the then districts of Bihar may also have faced the same situation. If the average misappropriation in one district may be thirty lacs rupees then it is nobody''s case what may be the situation in 37 districts of Bihar or about little more than 50 districts in unified Bihar before November, 2000.

Learned A.A.G. 2 has expressed absolute helplessness in not being able to reach the Secretary beyond his Personal Assistant (P.A.). The State counsel was told by the PA. to the Secretary, Primary Education that the High Court be intimated that the Secretary Sahib is in a meeting.

How should the Court bring these facts to the notice of the highest authority. The Secretary is the highest authority of the portfolio. In so far as facts are concerned, this correspondence between the Director, Education and the District Magistrate is of August, 2003, one year ago. Any action, investigation, by the Vigilance department of the State or the Central Bureau of Investigation in a matter like this should have been taken one year ago.

If this is the approach or the interest of the Secretary, Primary Education, then the Court had desired to place his record before him. A record of his department which he would not like to be aware. It is very unfortunate. Thirty lacs of public monies to pay primary school teachers their salary disappearing from the Post Office custody is a serious matter. A post office is virtually a treasury. This is embezzlement. Corruption. And, the Secretary had done nothing and does not want to know.

This, leaves the Court with no option but to let the entire record of the case be delivered to the Central Bureau of Investigation and it may inquire into the genesis, cause and the manner in which this amount was misappropriated in Madhubani district. The Central Bureau of Investigation will also be free to inquire whether this has happened in other districts of Bihar today as also the other districts of Bihar before bifurcation. These are to be mentioned. The people are entitled to know what happened to the funds out of which salary and retiral benefits were meant to be paid to primary school teachers and which just disappeared without accountability. Worse still the amount of the Primary School teachers was lying with the Post Office.

Learned counsel for the C.B.I., Mr. Rakesh Kumar is present. He requests for the record of entire case. This will be supplied to him by the Registrar General, within three days.

The original record of the case, Mr. A.A.G. 2 says, was deposited with the Registrar General of this Court. The record be scanned and compacted into a compact disk a copy of which may be given to counsel for the C.B.I, and the record be returned to A.A.G.2. A preliminary report may be filed by the C.B.I, within two months from today.