Apang: Under the scanner

Guwahati, Aug. 31: Gauhati High Court today admitted a petition seeking a CBI inquiry into former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang’s acquisition of property disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Judges Ranjan Gogoi and B.P. Kotoky admitted the petition filed by Tana Sunny, the president of an NGO, Arunachal Pradesh Anti-Corruption Front. Senior advocates M.K. Choudhury and Biplab Chakraborty represented the petitioner, while D.K. Misra represented Apang.

Sunny stated in the petition that corruption in Arunachal Pradesh had peaked during Apang’s three-decade-long tenure. He said the former chief minister had acquired wealth by cashing in on rampant corruption in the state. Apang served as chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh from 1980 to 1999 and again from August 2003 to April 2007, when Dorjee Khandu replaced him.

The petition also stated that Apang’s son Omak, former Union minister for tourism and sports, joined hands with his father to amass wealth through corrupt means over the years.

Citing instances, the petitioner said Apang used his influence to ask for enhancement and release of cash credit from Arunachal Pradesh Co-operative Apex Bank, for which the bank has virtually had to close all its transactions. The total loss was to the tune of Rs 200 crore, the petition stated.

Pleading for a CBI inquiry into mismanagement relating to Arunachal Pradesh Co-operative Apex Bank Limited, the petitioner said the bank was unable to pay money to poor depositors.

A division bench of the court initially differed in opinion on calling in the CBI and the matter was referred to a third judge. On April 5, 2002, the matter was referred to the CBI but the outcome of the inquiry was not known.

Sunny also pleaded that the CBI be directed to intimate the court about the status of the earlier inquiry.

Apang resigned as chief minister after 19 long years in 1999. He was elected leader of the newly formed United Democratic Front, a coalition of his own political party, the Arunachal Congress, and several others, in 2003. Months later, Apang and his loyalist MLAs merged with the BJP, making Arunachal Pradesh the first BJP-ruled state in the Northeast. After the NDA lost power at the Centre, Apang merged with the Congress. In October 2004, the Congress won a majority in the state Assembly elections and Apang remained chief minister till April 9, 2007.