PATNA: Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan on Tuesday yet again demanded imposition of President's rule in Bihar, claiming that law and order in the state had collapsed.
Paswan urged Governor Fagu Chauhan to recommend President's rule in Bihar in view of what he said was inability of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to administer the state.
Citing the recent hooch tragedy in Nalanda district that claimed 11 lives, Paswan, in his letter to the Governor, said, "state enforcement agencies, including police, are responsible for such tragedies. The CM holds the home department (portfolio) also but he failed (in his duties). He also failed in effectively enforcing the prohibition law in the state".
"There is nothing called law and order in the state so there is no other option but to impose President Rule in Bihar," he maintained.
The district administration has confirmed the deaths of 11 people in Nalanda district from the consumption of poisonous liquor.
"So far, 11 people have died in this entire case. Although the post-mortem report has not come yet, prima facie it appears that everyone has consumed illicit liquor", said a senior police official of the district.
Meanwhile, Paswan also wrote a letter separately to the state CM and demanded that the government must pay a compensation of Rs 25 lakh each to the families of those who lost their lives in the Nalanda hooch tragedy and government jobs for their children.
Earlier too, Paswan had made similar demands for imposition of President's Rule in Bihar in 2016 alleging a continuous slide in law and order in the state under the Nitish Kumar-led government.
The law and order situation in Bihar has become even worse than "jungle raj" of 1990s, he had claimed.
In October, 2021 just ahead of by-polls in the state, Paswan had slammed Nitish Kumar for his remark that RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav can get him shot and claimed that "deteriorating" law and order situation in the state has created a fear psychosis among people.
Yadav had commented that he would ensure "visarjan" (political end) of Nitish Kumar in the October 30 by-elections in Bihar, following which the JD(U) leader retorted that the former can get him shot but cannot do anything else.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday prima facie held several top officials of the Bihar government guilty of its contempt for not complying with its orders on paying pensionary and retiral benefits to some employees and sought their presence on February 22.
A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai was hearing the plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against officials including the state's chief secretary and the principal secretary of the finance department for alleged willful disobedience of its orders.
"We, prima facie, find that the non¬compliance of the directions issued by this Court dated 4th March 2020 and 15th February 2021, is willful and deliberate and amounts to contempt of this court."
"We, therefore, direct the respondent contemnors to remain present before this Court on 22nd February 2022 and show cause as to why they should not be held guilty for having committed contempt of this Court and be punished in accordance with the law," the bench said in its order.
The case had a chequered history in which several employees of various corporations in undivided Bihar were sent on deputation to the state's treasury department.
The employees were sent as many employees of the treasury department were either dismissed or suspended due to their role in the 1996 fodder scam.
However, they were denied pensionary and retiral benefits.
The Patna High Court and the Supreme Court took note of the judgement of the Jharkhand High Court on the similar plea of similarly situated employees and ordered that they be also paid pensionary and retiral benefits like any other government employees.
"We do not find any merit in the submissions made by Ranjit Kumar (senior advocate). In the order dated 4th March 2020, this Court has reproduced, in extenso, the directions issued by the High Court of Patna in its order dated 12th December 2017. The said order of the High Court of Patna is very clear. It was directed to the State of Bihar to grant benefits to each of the appellants therein by counting services as rendered by them in the Boards, Corporations and Public Sector Undertakings prior to their absorption and to grant them the pensionary benefits after counting such service in the Boards or Corporations," it said.
While issuing the contempt notice and seeking the presence of the state's officials, the bench said, "needless to state that compliance of the directions, in the meantime, will have a bearing on the punishment that may be inflicted upon the respondent contemnors."