Central nod in for prosecuting three ex-IAS officers in Bihar

The Centre has given its nod for prosecution proceedings against three retired IAS officers in Bihar connection with an alleged scholarship scam of ₹5.5 crore, which was detected seven years ago, officials familiar with the matter said.

The Centre has given its nod for prosecution proceedings against three retired IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers in Bihar connection with an alleged scholarship scam of ₹5.5 crore, which was detected seven years ago, officials familiar with the matter said.

SM Raju, one of the three former IAS officers involved in the alleged scholarship scam. (HT Archives)

On November 29, 2016, an FIR (first information report) was registered by the state’s vigilance investigation department (VIB) against 1986-batch IAS officer K P Ramaiah, 1991-batch IAS officer SM Raju and Ramashish Paswan, besides 13 others on the state government’s directive. They have been accused of committing irregularities in the disbursement of post-matriculation scholarship to students from scheduled castes and tribes pursuing technical education outside Bihar during 2013-14 and earlier. The case is currently pending before the special vigilance court of Patna for further process.

Ramaiah, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, had headed the famous “Mahadalit commission” created by Nitish Kumar for welfare of poorest among poor Dalit castes minus Paswans.

Soon after taking voluntary retirement from the post of principal secretary of SC & ST welfare department, Ramaiah had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from Sasaram as a JD (U) nominee in 2014.

According to the charge sheet filed in the case, Ramaiah disbursed ₹2.24 crore to Indus Integrated Information Management (IIIM) by four separate cheques barely two days before his VRS while Raju disbursed ₹3.30 crore to a company, Sriram New Horizon, without even floating tender for selection.

“During VIB investigation, it was found students named in the list of firms as candidates imparted training followed by certification had never been into any such course,” said a VIB official who was involved in the investigation, adding that the Centre’s sanction for prosecution was submitted in court on Tuesday.