HC rejects anticipatory bail petitions of two toilet scam accused in Bihar
2 min readPATNA: The Patna high court on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail petitions of two accused – Vandana Devi and Arvind Kumar Gautam – involved in the toilet scam which surfaced in Patna last year.
Both the matter had come up for hearing before the bench of Justice Vinod Kumar Sinha who rejected the anticipatory bail petitions, after hearing both sides at length, on basis of evidences which had surfaced during the course of investigation in the case.
Additional public prosecutor (APP) Ajay Mishra, who had appeared for the state government before the bench, said that Vandana was the president of an NGO named Ram Krishna Yuva Seva Samiti while Arvind was treasurer of NGO Kasturi Seva ka Adarsh.
“Rs 25 lakh of the scam amount was transferred into the bank account of an NGO run by Vandana and the entire amount was withdrawn by cheques which carried her signature,” Mishra said.
He said that these things were mentioned in the case diary and signature of Vandana on the cheques were verified by police with help of forensic experts.
“Another NGO received Rs 14 lakh of the scam amount. It was withdrawn by Arvind in connivance with the NGO president Vicky Sharma and secretary Arun Kumar,” he added.
The scam had surfaced after officials of Patna district administration spotted disbursal of around RS 15 crore to bank account of different NGOs for construction of toilets under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan scheme between May 1, 2016 and June 23, 2016. It later surfaced that none of the toilets were constructed against the payment and it was also violation of central government’s direction which had barred roping in NGOs for toilet construction.
Submit health report of Lalkeshwar: The bench of Justice Rakesh Kumar of Patna high court on Wednesday while hearing regular bail petition of inter toppers’ scam accused Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh ordered the Beur central jail administration to submit a status report on his health if his ailment could be treated locally. Lalekshwar, the erstwhile chairman of Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), had pleaded the court to grant him bail on basis of his health condition. The court also ordered the state government to apprise the court if disproportionate asset case has been instituted against him or not as he is among the prime accused in the scam. Lalkeshwar was lodged in jail after his arrest in June 2016.
Courtesy: TNN
