RJD MP questions 'chain of command' on defamation notice in Bharat Tiwari case

Patna: RJD MP Sudhakar Singh on Sunday argued that the chain of command was "broken" in the Rs 5 crore defamation suit against him by senior Bihar IPS officer Kundan Krishnan over his remarks surrounding the death of Bhojpur youth Bharat Bhushan Tiwari in an encounter and an alleged incident involving a teenage girl in Jamui.

The MP also asserted that he will seek an "interpretation" of the notice from the Supreme Court.

Sudhakar Singh had publicly alleged that senior police officials, including Krishnan, who was heading the STF at the time of the June 17 incident, should be held accountable, calling for an inquiry into the leadership rather than limiting action to lower-rank personnel.

The notice alleges that the RJD MP's statements were baseless and damaged Krishnan’s public image and professional reputation.

Speaking to IANS, Sudhakar Singh said: "First, under the Service Act of the Constitution, they do not have the authority to issue a notice to me. Second, I have asked the Chief Minister whether he granted permission to file a case against me. Third, when the Bihar government has an Advocate General, why was a notice issued to me through a private lawyer?"

"Also, Kundan Krishnan did not sign the notice, so it remains suspicious whether he issued it or someone else did. These are the questions, and I hope the Chief Minister will reply soon; otherwise, we will go to court," he said.

Moreover, the RJD MP questioned how an in-service officer could issue a notice questioning an elected representative.

Emphasising that Constitutional interpretation is done by the Supreme Court, he said: "The question here is that a constitutional crisis has arisen: can a junior officer issue a notice to his senior officer? The chain of command has been broken; democracy also functions through a chain of command."

Maintaining that while democracy operates through votes, he noted that the executive branch functions through a chain of command.

"In this command system, how can a person ranked at 28th issue a notice to someone seated higher up at the 7th rank? We will seek an interpretation of this from the Supreme Court," Sudhakar Singh said.

Further, the RJD MP accused Krishnan of possessing "undisclosed property" and "illegal wealth" disproportionate to his known sources of income.

"When I looked at the details of his property, I saw that he purchased 16 acres and 88 decimals of land in Kaimur, the details of which he has not yet disclosed. The properties he possesses are worth nearly hundreds of crores. I have a separate account of his illegal wealth, which I will present later."

"After all, for someone who earned Rs 4 to 5 crore in salary throughout this entire service career and incurred expenses of Rs 2 to 3 crore, how was property worth hundreds of crores generated from those remaining Rs 2 to 2.5 crore?" he asked.

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