Tainted Bihar IAS officer's house now a school

Patna: A confiscated palatial house of an IAS officer, suspended for indulging in graft, became a full-fledged primary school on Thursday. Shiv Shankar Verma's property at upscale Bailey Road in Patna was confiscated by Bihar government on September 4 and the Cabinet had on September 6 decided to hand over the building to the state Human Resources Department as part of inter-department transfer.

Verma, a former minor irrigation secretary, is the first official to feel the heat of Bihar Special Courts Act, 2009 and faces a Rs 1.44 crore disproportionate assets case along with eight other relatives.

Sleuths of the Special Vigilance Unit had raided Verma's houses on July 6, 2007 and found movable and immovable properties estimated at Rs 1.43 crore, which were disproportionate to his known sources in income.

The three-storey house was confiscated following orders of Patna High Court which had on August 19 upheld the directive of the Special Vigilance Court in a case charging Verma with amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income.

Bihar Special Courts Act came into force last year after presidential assent and allows the government to confiscate property of an accused in a corruption case during trial.

The primary school of Rukanpura Mushari which was earlier running in slums was shifted to the confiscated property, Patna district education officer Medho Das said.

Most of the school's students are dalits, he added.

During the raid on Verma's house the Vigilance sleuths also seized a 9 kg gold bar with Swiss hallmark, 800 guineas, Rs 16.50 lakh in cash, $1600, jewellery valued at over Rs 81 lakh, investments in share market amounting to Rs 20 lakh and papers pertaining to investments in immovable properties at four places, officials said.

The Special Vigilance court has also ordered confiscation of properties of an employee of Patna collectorate and a former motor vehicles inspector posted at Aurangabad.

Sixteen more cases on confiscation of property are before Vigilance courts, they said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, during his electioneering for the 2010 Assembly polls, had promised that the properties of corrupt officials would be confiscated for opening the much-needed schools in Bihar.