Siliguri, July 31: A lawyer representing arrested IAS officer G. Kiran Kumar today said his client had never raised questions over the role of board members of the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority in the alleged misappropriation of around Rs 60 crore, a statement which contradicts the stand of another counsel of the accused.
The CPM has alleged that differences between Kiran Kumar's lawyers betrayed attempts by the Trinamul Congress to shield the SJDA board members.
Lawyer Avrojyoti Das told journalists here today: "I have met my client (Kiran Kumar) at Siliguri Special Correctional Home. He has asked me to inform the media that he had never commented anything on the board members of the SJDA. He has told the investigating agency that the payments were made as per the reports submitted by engineers."
Das is junior to Rajdeep Majumdar, who was included in a battery of lawyers representing the IAS officer last week. Das held a news conference on behalf of Majumdar, a high court advocate.
Kiran Kumar was the CEO of the SJDA from 2011 to 2013 when over Rs 60 crore was allegedly misappropriated in connection with several projects, including construction of three electric crematoriums and a sewerage system and installation of CCTV cameras.
According to the CID that is probing the case, payments were made to private construction firms and suppliers even though no work was done.
MLAs Rudranath Bhattacharya of Trinamul and Sankar Malakar of the Congress were SJDA board members when the alleged scam occurred.
Kiran Kumar was arrested by the CID on July 15.
Atri Sharma, another lawyer representing the IAS officer since when he was first arrested on November 30, 2013, in connection with the scam, had said his client had only looked after execution of the projects.
"He was the CEO and was mainly assigned with the task of execution of projects. It is evident that he couldn't take any decision on his own or make any payments without the consent or decision of the board members," Sharma had said on July 16.
"So far, only some private contractors and this IAS officer have been arrested in connection with the scam. Some of the board members were being interrogated back in 2013 but none have been arrested. If my client is guilty, he should face consequences but others who took the decisions and passed on instructions to him should not be spared."
Even today, when told about Das's remarks, Sharma reiterated his stand.
"We have been associated with the case for the past two-and-a-half years. We have found that as far as the functioning of the SJDA is concerned, there are fixed responsibilities for board members and officials. If there has been a scam, the investigating agency must see whether all the persons concerned, including the board members, had acted according to their responsibilities," Sharma said. "We also feel that our stand doesn't suit some people who have received benefits in the scam."
"When an investigation is in progress, we are nobody to say if anybody else is guilty. Simultaneously, we can't say, other than my client and others who have been named in the chargesheet filed by CID, nobody else is involved in the scam," Sharma added.
Darjeeling district CPM leaders said Das's statement showed that Trinamul was trying to shield the board members.
"The differences between Kiran Kumar's lawyers only indicate a clandestine attempt by Trinamul to shield the board members. The party is trying to save these members, who, we suspect, are involved in the scam. We were apprehensive of such moves and that was why we had called for a comprehensive probe by the CBI," Asok Bhattacharya, the Darjeeling district Left Front convenor and a former chairman of the SJDA, said.
A Trinamul leader who didn't want to be named said: So far, Kiran Kumar hadn't disapproved of the remarks made by his lawyer Atri Sharma. The sudden denial by the IAS officer on the SJDA members through another lawyer raises certain questions."
