Topper scam: Lalkeshwar, Usha land behind Beur bars

Patna: A vigilance court on Tuesday remanded former Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh and his wife and former JD (U) MLA Usha Sinha in 14 days’ judicial custody.
A large number of policemen were deployed on the premises of the Patna civil court where the couple and Prashant Kumar Jaiswal, arrested for harbouring them in Varanasi, were produced in the vigilance court of Raghavendra Kumar Singh a little after court hours.Since the judge had by then left the court, they were taken to the judge’s residence.
A battery of journalists jostled with one another for access to the couple arrested for their involvement in the BSEB’s Class XII topper scam as the securitymen left no stone unturned to keep them away. Once the trio, with their heads covered, got inside the court, police cordoned off the area.
The accused were later lodged in the Beur jail. Prosecution counsel Vijay Sinha and Anandi Singh said the court directed Beur jail superintendent Rupak Kumar to get the couple medically examined by the prison doctor and submit a report regarding their health on Wednesday.
Case IO Rakesh Kumar, who is Phulwarisharif ASP, earlier submitted a petition before the court of CJM Om Prakash, praying it to invoke the Prevention of Corruption Act against the couple. Sinha said the husband and wife have been booked under Sections 8 and 9 (misuse of official position for illegal act) and 13(1)(e) (disproportionate assets) of the Prevention of Corruption Act besides Sections 420 (cheating), 466, 467, 468, 471 (all related with forgery of documents) of the IPC.
The prosecution counsel said five other accused -- Nand Kishore Yadav, Kumari Shakuntala, Prabhat Kumar Jaiswal, Rita Kumari and Neeshu Singh -- were also produced before the vigilance court after the CJM allowed the prosecution to invoke the Prevention of Corruption Act against them as well. They were also forwarded to Beur jail.
The prosecution counsel would pray for police remand of the tainted couple for interrogation.
Defence counsel Janardan Rai said Lalkeshwar underwnt a heart surgery in 2012 and doctors in April this year advised him another surgery. “If Lalkeshwar’s medical care is not possible in the Beur jail, he should be shifted to a government hospital,” he said.
He also withdrew on Tuesday the anticipatory bail petition of Lalkeshwar and Usha, submitted before the Patna district and session’s judge, as it had become non-maintainable after their arrest from Varanasi on Monday morning.