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| SARDAR VALLABH BHAI PATEL (31 OCTOBER 1875- 15 DECEMBER 1950) |
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| KRISHNA BALLABH SAHAY (31 DECEMBER 1898-3 JUNE 1974) |
When Congress faced the electorate for the first
time in December 1946, it resolved to end Zamindari and talked of
developing a direct relationship between the farmers and the Government. In the
coming years, it became clear that even within the Congress none had taken this
resolve seriously barring a handful of leaders like K. B. Sahay who went ahead
with this resolve in the literal sense that saw him waging a lonely battle
against troika of Zamindars, their henchmen within Congress and their
musclemen who made efforts to malign him and even attempted to eliminate him to
stop him from achieving his resolve.
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The
fight that K. B. Sahay waged saw him battling on all these three fronts during
the second half of the fifth decade in the twentieth century and it was marked
by four events – the Zamindari Abolition Bill, the Sathi Land Case, the Bihar
Molasses Scandal and the attempt to assassinate him- character-wise as well as
to liquidate him physically. The first three issues brought him in
confrontation with Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. After taking over as the Revenue Minister in 1946, K.B. Sahay
put in all his efforts to the abolition of zamindari. On 5th
April 1947, he forwarded a copy of the Bihar State Acquisition of Zamindari
Bill drafted by the Bihar Government to Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel and informed
him that a copy was also provided to Dr Rajendra Prasad and Sadiq Ali, the
General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee. He further added –‘To
maintain the prestige of the Congress this bill must be introduced in the
Assembly as soon as possible. Our political opponents are taking advantage of
the fact that we have not introduced the Bill as yet as will be clear from the
extract from the Monghyr District Intelligence Office Report’. K. B. Sahay left no stone unturned in his effort to garner
support in favour of the Zamindari Abolition Bill. He knocked at every door
that mattered- Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, and
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad but did not get the support he needed. Rather he was rebuffed by Sardar Patel who
raised the question of compensation- ‘To take away Zamindaris without paying
compensation would amount to robbery…..compensation must be adequate and not
nominal’, Sardar Patel strongly deplored the proposal that the
Maharajadhiraja of Darbhanga, who had an annual income of Rs 60 lakhs, should
get Rs 25 lakhs as compensation. ‘How would they feel’, he asked ‘if
they were put in his (Darbhanga’s) position?’ It was Swami Sahajanand
Saraswati who came to K. B. Sahay’s rescue who was equally blunt in his
rebuttal- ‘He (Darbhanga) would feel like a very happy criminal.
Compensation is nothing but ‘legal dacoity’. It was Pandit Jawahar Lal
Nehru who ultimately extended the requisite support to K. B. Sahay. But that
happened in 1950 when the Constitution had to be amended to accommodate the
Bihar Zamindari Abolition Act. But in the intervening period i.e. 1946-1950, K.
B. Sahay faced tremendous opposition for his effort to abolish zamindari.
His repeated stress on the abolition of zamindari alerted the Zamindars
who realized that his resolve was not mere hollow words but resoluteness of
determined leadership. They waited for their moment and therefore prepared
themselves to retaliate at an opportune moment. The moment of retaliation came
soon in the form of settlement of land in Sathi in Bettiah Estate in favour of
Ram Narayan Prasad Sahi and his brother Ram Rekha Prasad Sahi. In 1946 when the Congress Ministry took over, K. B. Sahay laid
down certain guidelines for settlement of the land of the Bettiah Raj. On 3rd September 1946 K. B. Sahay
issued instructions to the Board of Revenue that the lands should be settled
with the tenants of the village or neighbouring villages on payment of the ten
times the rent as ‘Salaami’ and only in special cases should a reference
be made to the Government for orders. On 19th July 1946, Ram Prasad Narain Sahi, the then
excise-commissioner along with his brother applied to the Government of Bihar
through General Manager, Bettiah Raj for settlement of 200 bighas of
land, preferably in the Sathi or Matiria farm and 110 bighas of
wastelands known as Matiria Chaturbhuj Rekhant on payment of proper rent. This
settlement was made on 18th November 1946. Almost immediately this
settlement led to controversy as local people went up in agitation that such
settlement should have been made with the local tenants in the first instance.
A complaint was forwarded to Dr Rajendra Prasad, both by the President,
Raiyats’ Sabha, Sathi, Bettiah (Champaran) as well by a handful of K. B.
Sahay’s detractors from his native place i.e. Hazaribagh. It was alleged that
500 acres of land were settled with Ram Prasad Narayan Sahi and Ram Rekha
Prasad Sahi who were relatives of the Premier Sri Krishna Sinha. There was
truth in this allegation for R.P.N. Sahi’s nephew (i.e. Ram Rekha Prasad Sahi’s
son) was married to the daughter of Mahesh Prasad Sinha, MLA, and a close
confidant of Sri Krishna Sinha. Did the Sathi episode
jolt K.B. Sahay in his endeavour to abolish Zamindari? Not the least. K.
B. Sahay was not only aware of the implications of his decision which was
contrary to the guidelines set by him but was also prepared to face the
repercussions of his decision. He did not benefit personally from this
settlement but the issue did fetch him the unconditional support of the Bihar
Premier in his efforts to abolish zamindari through Legislative means.
This unconditional support of the Premier was essential to tackle the hordes of
zamindars that had been after his blood and had been knocking at the
doors of Dr Rajendra Prasad to intervene. However, the zamindars
applied other means to silence K.B. Sahay. Just a few days before the Zamindari
Abolition Bill was to be introduced in the Assembly, K. B. Sahay was run over
and seriously injured in a motor accident in September 1947. K. B. Sahay narrowly
escaped this attempt on his life. While the zamindars were still engaged
at stalling the legislative process of abolishing zamindari, the events
took a new twist as K.B. Sahay rose to reply to a short notice question by
Harinath Mishra M.L.A. and Gauri Shankar Dalmia, M.L.A. on the Floor of the
Bihar Legislative Assembly 9th October 1947. A notice of interpellation was given by
Harinath Mishra, M.L.A. in which he wanted to know the names of persons to whom
permits were given for molasses and the name of the person recommending them.
In answer to this question in the Assembly, K.B. Sahay gave out some startling
information regarding the issue of permits for molasses, which caused
considerable public irritation. Molasses constitute the basic mother liquor
after extraction of sugar from sugarcane in the sugar mills and is a sweetish
and tacky fluid. It is used for making liquor in distilleries and also largely
for mixing with tobacco for hukkah purposes. Ninety per cent of the
molasses was under the Molasses Control Act, statutorily allotted to the
distilleries. Of the remaining ten per cent, distribution was left to the
factories, but the Excise Commissioner Mr R.P.N. Sahi (who later became Commissioner,
Patna) issued certain recommendations for the issue of molasses to certain
recipients. The control rate was four annas a maund. The market price was Rs.
5/- per maund. Amongst the list of recipients of permits provided by the Excise
Commissioner and quoted by K.B. Sahay on the floor of the House were several
persons who had given their addresses C/O several prominent Congress leaders,
Congressmen, M.L.A.s and even some Hon’ble Ministers and one or two high
officials. This disclosure was held to have adversely affected the prestige of
the Government as well as that of Congress by some people. (Extracts of
notes of K.S.V. Raman on file dated: 16th January 1948) The fact of the matter was K.B. Sahay
was not officially in charge of this Department which was held by Jagat Lal
Chaudhary. But owing to fundamental differences over a policy, Chaudhary had
sent in his resignation to the Premier. The resignation was not accepted, yet
Chaudhary refused to deal with the files and the Prime Minister had requested
K.B. Sahay to look after the files of the Excise Department. The state of
things continued for months before K.B. Sahay formally took charge. He stopped
the practice forthwith. But the cases pertained to a period before he had taken
charge of the excise ministry. J.B.
Kriplani, the Congress President, referred the matter to the Congress
Parliamentary Board (CPB). The CPB in its meeting dated 4th July
1948 passed a resolution entrusting Secretary, CPB and General Secretary AICC
Shankarrao Deo to visit Bihar and investigate the matter. Shankarao Deo visited
Bihar during 19th-21st October 1948 and after thorough
investigation submitted a 13-page report which came to be known as ‘Report of
the Enquiry into Molasses Scandal in Bihar and other Matters’. The ‘Bihar Molasses Scandal’ created a
flutter in the political circle both in Patna and Delhi. The attention moved
from the Sathi Case to this scandal as names of Congressmen and prominent
Congress leaders from two different sides of the fence featured in both these
cases. While the Central leadership of the Congress got down to damage control,
all internal opposition that K.B. Sahay was battling in his effort to abolish
the zamindari subsided for the moment as he got down to brass tacks to
pilot the famous Bihar Land Reforms Bill (Bill 24)
of 1949 to replace the impugned Zamindari Abolition Act of 1947 for the
abolition of zamindari. The matter finally came
up before Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel who asked the Bihar Premier Sri Krishna
Sinha to clarify the Government’s official stand on the issue. Ram Lakhan Singh
Yadav has mentioned this episode in his memoir in an interesting manner. He
writes that Sri Krishna Sinha was reluctant to meet Sardar Patel, the
Swarasthra Mantri (as the Home Minister was then referred). At this point K.B.
Sahay took upon himself the onus of meeting Patel and explaining the case.
Krishna Ballabh Sahay explained to Sardar the implication of cancellation of
the settlement of Sathi land but the Sardar remained adamant. Krishna Ballabbh Sahay made it clear that the
orders for cancellation will be challenged in the Court of Law and the
Government will not be able to defend its decision. K.B. Sahay told Sardar
Patel that ‘any relaxation of the Government orders settling the land
with the Sahis will mean triumph for the party of the landlords and give a
fillip to the spirit of violence created by the Socialists and the Communists.
It will be followed by an attack upon lands settled with others against which
the Socialists and the Communists have been carrying on vigorous propaganda. If
Mr Sahi, who has a claim for the settlement of lands in the Bettiah Estate, is
asked to return the lands, it will look invidious if Congressmen, with no claim
whatsoever on the Bettiah Estate lands, are left free to retain their lands’.
Sardar Patel had dismissed K. B. Sahay’s argument and had observed that ‘I
am afraid, I cannot say anything in regard to the comparison or contrast which
the Revenue Minister has made of this grant with the others because I do not
know the nature and facts of other grants. Wrong is nonetheless wrong even if
it is long upheld it does not become right merely because it would lead to some
political disadvantages or it is one of the many other wrongs.’ Sardar Patel carried out
a detailed enquiry of both these issues during the major part of the year 1949.
Once again ‘The Indian Nation’ started a slander campaign against
K.B. Sahay and his role in the Sathi Land Settlement case, well knowing the
fact that K.B. Sahay was personally not benefitted out of this settlement. All
these reports were duly forwarded to Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel by one Mr Ishwar
Chandra Banerjee of Ganga Bhavan, Girish Chandra Banerjee Road, Bhagalpur, to
influence the ongoing enquiry. However, Sardar Patel was least impressed by
such tactics of the adversaries. Unlike Dr Rajendra Prasad or J. B. Kriplani,
he did not take cognizance of these reports and consigned them to the dustbin.
He was aware of the credibility of the newspaper which had apologized to K.B.
Sahay just a couple of years back for filing a report titled ‘Secret Behind
Zamindari Abolition’ (26th May 1947) when K. B. Sahay had sued the
paper for such unsubstantiated reports. Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel
finally completed his enquiry and submitted his report on 19th
October 1949. In the Bihar Molasses Case, Sardar Vallabh
Bhai Patel noted that ‘Papers do not show that the Minister (Jag Lal Chaudhary
or K.B. Sahay) or the Ministry had any connection either directly or indirectly
with the origin or conduct of this practice. None of the Ministers was directly
involved in making recommendations or influencing the Excise Commissioner’. In the Sathi
Land Settlement, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel noted that ‘...... in
the light of the analysis of facts I regretfully conclude that the action of
the Government in setting this Estate with R.P.N. Sahi and his brother was not
justified, was contrary to their duty as Court of Wards of the Bettiah Estate
and was in contravention of the policy laid down by the Government and involve
a concession to Sahis which they did not deserve. It is, therefore, a matter of
very serious consideration as to what action should be taken both in regard to
the molasses scandal and the Bettiah Settlement. I have no doubt that conduct of
Sri R.P.N. Sahi in both these transactions has been open to objections.
Similarly, I am certain that the settlement of Sathi Farm with the Sahi
brothers cannot be justified. As to what administrative action is possible at
this stage to rectify the mistakes committed is a question, which can only be
considered by or in consultation with, the Provincial Government. In its meeting held on 16th November 1949, the Congress Working Committee considered the Sardar Patel Report on the ‘Bihar Ministerial Affairs’ and accepted it and resolved that the Prime Minister of Bihar may address the issue of (i) Restoration of land as the transfer was illegal and (ii) Removal of Commissioner from service. Based on the resolution of the Congress Working Committee, on 7th February 1950, the Government of Bihar wrote to the Sahis to return the land settled with them. In their reply dated 27th February 1950, the Sahis refused to comply with Government orders. The Advocate General observed that the land cannot be taken back from the Sahis under the Bihar Tenancy Act nor can it be acquired under the Land Acquisition Act. A suit can, however, be filed for restoration of the land or special Legislation may be undertaken for the restoration of the land. On 19th April
1950, Sri Krishna Sinha informed Kala Venkat Rao of the Government’s decision
to file suit against Ram Prasad Narayan Sahi and Ram Rekha Prasad Sahi. The
Government followed it with the Sathi Land (Restoration) Act, 1950. The Act was
challenged in the High Court by the Sahi brothers who won the case in the
Court. The Patna High Court struck down the Sathi Land (Restoration)
Act, 1950 thus upholding the prophecy of K.B. Sahay’s advice to Sardar Patel
that the settlement was legally tenable, though may not be in propriety and
hence the settlement cannot be challenged in a Court of Law since it did not
contravene the spirit of the law. (Courtesy: (i) National
Archives, New Delhi (ii) Searchlight, Patna)
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