Patna, July 26: The Opposition, including the RJD, LJP and Congress, are planning to move the high court against the chief secretary’s report on the alleged anomalies in the allotment of plots by the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (Biada) to the wards and relatives of the ministers and senior IAS officers.

“It (the chief secretary’s report) looks more like an exercise to cover up the role that the people in position of power have played in getting the plots for the wards and relatives rather than an investigation report,” the Leader of Opposition, Abdul Bari Siddiqui said.

He pointed out that Anup Mukerji, who headed the state’s bureaucratic set-up and slated to retire on September 30, was “not an appropriate person” to handle the probe against his subordinates and the ministers. “After all, as the administrative head of the state, he (Mukerji) holds the key responsibility in the allotment of the government lands. Practically, he will depend on the officials under the scanner.”

Sources in the opposition parties revealed that they were in the process of finalising the petitioners who would file the public interest litigation against the alleged irregularities in the allotment of the Biada land. The petitions- may be one or two- would be filed on behalf of the individuals and not the political parties.

Besides Siddiqui, LJP general secretary Raghvendra Kushwaha and Congress leader Premchand Mishra hinted that the PIL on the issue might be filed in the next few days. The Opposition leaders were unanimous on the point that the chief secretary had not carried out any investigation, whatsoever, on the points of reference suggested by the chief minister, Nitish Kumar.

“Mukerji has simply procured the reports from the Biada managing director, Anshuli Arya, who in the process had procured it from her office staff. There is no semblance of tools, usually, employed in such investigations,” Siddiqui told reporters.

He pointed out that the chief secretary did not make on the spot inquiry to find out if the allottees were actually doing something on the plots. “Besides, he has blatantly stated that persons in position of power had no role, whatsoever, to play in the allotment of the plots. How can he (Mukerji) say that without investigating it?” he asked.

Mukerji, in his 18-page report, has stated that appropriate legal action would be initiated against the media that “misled the people by giving false and fabricated news on the issue”.

Taking a serious note on the chief secretary’s remark on the media, Siddiqui said: “It amounts to threatening the media and stifling the right to speak. Moreover, his (Mukerji’s) remark is also a flagrant deviation from the points of reference the chief minister had given him to base his findings. Instead of investigating the role the people in position of power and irregularities, the chief secretary has gone on to find faults with the media, which has simply reported what it found worth reporting.”

While the Congress has decided to stage a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on July 28 to press for the CBI probe into the issue, the RJD and LJP too reiterated their demand for the same.