VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, April 2: Senior lawyer of Jharkhand High Court Rajeev Kumar has accused Ranchi DC Chhavi Ranjan of threatening him with dire consequences for fighting a corruption case against a top constitutional functionary of Jharkhand.
Rajeev Kumar is the lawyer of the petitioner Shivshankar Sharma who filed a PIL against a top constitutional functionary for misusing his official position for pecuniary benefits.
The petitioner made this sensational disclosure after he filed a fresh petition at the High Court on March 31 where he named Chhavi Ranjan as the respondent. He said that he and his lawyer are under constant fear of their life and limb as they are being threatened.
Talking about the controversy, lawyer Rajeev Kumar said that the DC had asked him to come to his official residence where he gave him a veiled threat that he would have to face dire consequences if he did not stop pursuing the case against that the constitutional functionary.
“Around 9.46 PM on the night of March 30, I received a call from the Ranchi DC. We talked over the phone for two minutes. He asked me to come to his official residence to talk about something important. I reached his residence around 10.20 PM. I stayed with him for an hour. The same can be checked from the records of the DC residence,” Rajeev Kumar said.
He said that the DC was very courteous towards him but he repeatedly told me that the said top functionary was unhappy with him. “DC warned that my legal adventure may have some bad repercussions on me. There are some powerful people in the government who are hatching a conspiracy against me because they are upset with what I am doing,” he said.
Rajeev Kumar further claimed that the DC told him about three high-profile persons who have planned to destroy him. The lawyer said that he has requested the High Court for a CBI inquiry of the matter. “What I am telling is completely true and I am ready to face the consequences if proved wrong. I am opposed to the tendency of the government to use government officials as gangsters. This is not the job of the bureaucracy. Ranchi DC should tell the court whose instruction he was following and whose threat he was forwarding me,” he asked.
The affidavit mentions the kind of threat he has been facing like “you will be mowed down”, “we will destroy your house because we are in the government”, sooner or later we will damage you.”
Sharing further details of his conversation with the DC, Rajeev Kumar said that he asked the DC to call those persons at his residence who are upset with him and planning to destroy him so that he can explain his position.
“The DC said to me that they are very egoistic persons and they would not meet me but they can take revenge. The DC told me that I should stop pursuing that particular case against the said constitutional functionary and I should not buy enmity,” he said.
Asked why an IAS officer would like to burn his fingers knowing well that he can face collateral damage and it would have serious implications for him, the lawyer clarified it.
“Ranchi DC is a party to that case of alleged misuse of the office. He granted a mining lease to the said constitutional functionary so he has reason to worry,” he said. He alleged the state government of misusing the government machinery.
