Patna, Aug. 26: Chief minister Nitish Kumar’s campaign against corruption received a jolt today when an employee with the statistics department, booked on graft charges, was released on bail in absence of prosecution sanction from the CM’s secretariat.

Special vigilance judge Ravindra Nath Singh granted the bail to Ravindra Kumar, former district statistical officer, Saharsa, for want of prosecution sanction.

Though the investigating officer (IO) in the case, Maharaja Kanishka Kumar Singh, submitted chargesheet ag-ainst Kumar on August 11, 2011, the prosecution sanction is still awaited. The IO told the court the file pertaining the grant of prosecution is pending in the CM’s secretariat.

“Initially, I approached the principal secretary, planning and development department, Patna, for grant of prosecution sanction as it is the parent department of the employee concerned. When planning and development department refused to grant the permission, I contacted the law department,” the investigating officer said. Singh said he came to know the file was pending with the chief minister’s secretariat.

“Efforts are still on to seek permission to prosecute the erring public servant booked under Sections 7/13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act,” he added. The court admitted the bail application of Kumar in absence of a prosecution sanction and later ordered his release on bail after completing legal formalities.

Reacting to the development, the chief minister’s office said: “We will look into the details and the public prosecutor will be breifed accordingly.”