Patna, Nov 16: Bihar Governor Suraj Bhan has sacked a minister in the Rabri Devi government for being "under-age." Ironically, the dismissed minister, Rakesh Kumar alias Samrat Choudhary, celebrated his birthday on Tuesday. "I have also invited the Governor in my birthday party," said Rakesh Kumar, the son of former MP Shakuni Choudhary who recently quit Samata Party and joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).Kumar was holding the portfolios of horticulture and weight & measures in the Bihar government and was appointed as minister on May 19, 1999. He is not even a member of any of the legislative houses. He has at least three birth certificates with different years of birth.At a press conference at the Raj Bhavan, the Governor announced that he used his `discretionary powers' to dismiss the minister and said: "I have issued necessary directives to the state government."
He said he had asked the state government to recover all the pay and other allowances paid to him during his tenure as minister. Also, the state government has been asked to examine the legal validity of the actions taken by the said minister.
In her reaction, Chief Minister Rabri Devi said that she would consult the legal advisors on this issue. RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav directly attacked the Governor and charged with dancing to the tunes of the bigwigs of Samata Party.
"It is a political vendetta against us. The Governor is playing a partisan role. How can a Governor dismiss a minister?" asked Laloo.The attorney general of the state, Shashi Anugrah Narain, was also of the view that the Governor should act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers headed by the Chief Minister.
"I do not think that the Governor has any discretionary power to dismiss a minister," said Narain.
Claiming to be 31-year-old, the dismissed minister Rakesh Kumar said that he was going to celebrate his 31st birthday on Tuesday and that he was not aware of any such action taken by the governor. However, he asserted that if it were true, he would go to court. Addressing a select group of reporters, Governor Suraj Bhan said that his predecessor justice BM Lal had in June called for an inquiry by the state's chief electoral officer AK Basu following a petition filed by the Samata Party leaders that Rakesh Kumar was under-age (not even 25 years).
According to the horoscope submitted by Rakesh, he is 26 years old, while according to the age given in his school-leaving certificate he is 31 now.That is not all. According to his Election Commission identity card, he should be 24 now and in 1995 he was a minor, only 16, according to his sworn affidavit filed that year before the sub-divisional court of Munger in a murder case.
The Governor also added that Rakesh Kumar's elder brother, a student of Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, was hardly 22 years old, according to the documents obtained from the institute.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.