The following article presents the point of view of senior
journalist Sri N.K. Singh, published on November 20, 1970, under the
caption 'Aiyer Commission Verdict' and his blog, 'NK's Post' on July 13, 2020. It is followed by the Counter-Point based on historical records to judge the issue on merits leaving the wisdom of judgment to the reader.
AIYER COMMISSION'S VERDICT- POINT-COUNTERPOINT
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Bihar: Aiyer Commission Verdict
NK SINGH
“If
it helps Bihar regain its soul to any extent it shall have served its purpose.” Justice TL Venkatarama Aiyer concludes thus his much-awaited report of the
Commission of Enquiry against six former Congress ministers, confirming the
worst suspicion of the public.
The
Commission has questioned the integrity of all and has actually sustained a
charge of bribe-taking against one, Mahesh Sinha, who has received the severest
condemnation.
The
Commission was appointed by the former United Front ministry, headed by Mahamaya Sinha on October 10, 1967, to inquire into charges of
corruption, favouritism and abuse of power by Messrs KB Sahay, Mahesh Sinha,
Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Ambika Sharan Singh, Raghavendra Narayan Singh and RLS
Yadav.
Yadav
is the general secretary of Bihar Congress. All others are in Congress(O).
Justice
Aiyer, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, constituted the one-man
Commission. The hearing began on August 7, 1969 and concluded on August 7,
1969. On February 5, 1970, Aiyar submitted his 1,332-page report to the
Governor.
KB
Sahay- Former
chief minister KB Sahay has
been found guilty of enriching his sons and relatives at the cost of the state
exchequer. His assets have also been found disproportionate to his income.
Mahesh
Sinha- Former
minister and now vice president of Congress (O), Mahesh Sinha 70, has
received the severest condemnation for accepting bribes totalling Rs 1.75 lakh from a contractor and
showering undue favours at the cost of the State.
Satyendra
Narayan Sinha- He has been found guilty of one charge of
favouritism levelled against him.
Ambika
Sharan Singh- He has been found guilty of abuse of power in two cases.
Raghavendra
Narayan Singh- He says the report, was intent on making petty gains and
was guilty of behaviour unbecoming of a person occupying the exalted position
of a minister. His net income during the period of his office was only Rs. 68,000;
the acquisitions had reached Rs. 2.35 lakh.
RLS
Yadav- Five
charges relating to the purchase and supply of store materials, appointments,
transfer promotions and protection to criminals have been established
against RLS Yadav.
After
the mid-term poll in 1969, the accused Congress bosses, who occupy important
positions in political life, installed Sardar Harihar Singh as
chief minister. He appointed a briefing committee for the proceedings before the Aiyar Commission but
retreated in the face of stiff opposition.
The
14-kg Aiyer-bomb explosion has also influenced the behaviour of SSP’s Ramanand Tiwari and Karpoori Thakur, who have
revolted against the SSP-Syndicate-Sangh-Swatantra alliance within hours of the
publication of the report. Tiwari resigned from the leadership of the four-party SVD.
Excerpts from Nov 20 February 1970
COUNTER-POINT
Sri N. K. Singh has reported, and I
quote, ‘Former chief minister K.B. Sahay has been found
guilty of enriching his sons and relatives at the cost of the state exchequer.
His assets have also been found disproportionate to his income.
Justice Aiyer did NOT write that
‘K.B. Sahay’s assets have also been found disproportionate to his income.’ What
he said about K.B. Sahay’s asset was that - ‘I have observed that though no specific bribery charge has been established against the
first respondent, his acquisitions are a bit on a higher side.’
To change the word from ‘bit on a higher side’ to ‘disproportionate’ amounted to twisting the facts out of context and certainly not a piece of fair journalism. Fair journalism demanded that Sri N.K. Singh ought to have put K.B. Sahay’s views on the Aiyer Commission Report, and left the rest to the reader to judge K.B. Sahay as per his wisdom, instead of indoctrinating his mind with his views.
No wonder K.B. Sahay
had challenged ‘The Indian Nation’ on that occasion and
declared ‘I leave it to the public to judge
the soundness of this logic.’ K.B. Sahay knew that the
Press would never be kind to him. Hence he left the matter, including the
charges of corruption to be decided by the people. (K.B. Sahay regrets report on assets’, ‘The Indian Nation,
February 12, 1970, (Courtesy: Sachchidanand Sinha Library, Patna-1)
Further, though Justice
T.L. Venkatarama Aiyar considered his to be a fact-finding mission, his report was based on documentary evidence and an examination of
several witnesses who submitted their statements before the Commission.
However, the requirement of law allowing the respondents to
impeach the credit of a witness by cross-examination was not complied with in
this case. It is an established principle that ‘once a party, even by
mistake, comes to the witness box and swears and is examined about a document
he would become a witness and will be liable to be cross-examined by his
opponents.’ (AIR 1957, Madh A, 135) This doctrine of natural justice
was denied to K.B. Sahay who rested his case for a wiser decision in the People’s
Court.
The vindictiveness of the opposition and the contemporary
Press was clearly exposed by the people who vindicated K.B. Sahay in the 1974
elections and rightly so. Unfortunately, this became his last electoral battle. K.B. Sahay was as energetic and cheerful despite his advancing age. “Now I can
die in peace. People’s Court has given me the verdict of NOT GUILTY’-
K.B. Sahay announced his return to active politics, in an interview to ‘The
Searchlight’ on May 30, 1974. Then, as if a premonition of his imminent
end, he added, ‘I started my political career in 1923 by entering the Bihar
Legislative Council as a representative of Hazaribagh, and now I am here ending
my political career by entering the Council once again as a representative of
Hazaribagh and Giridih. I thank the people of Hazaribagh and Giridih for reposing so much confidence and trust in me. (K. B. Sahay thanks
electorate’, ‘The Searchlight’, May 31, 1974, Courtesy- Sachchidanand Sinha
Library, Patna-1).
No wonder the forces opposed to K. B. Sahay engineered another accident soon after his electoral victory – a second one on his life. This proved fatal unlike the earlier ones engineered by the Zamindars in September 1947.
K.B. Sahay was
killed in a car accident on June 3, 1974, just a week after winning the
elections and after being vindicated in the People’s Court.
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