NOTE ON POSITION REGARDING BIHAR JEEP CREDIT.

Summary

This two-page Swatantra Party office note sets out the Party’s position on the Bihar jeep credit associated with the Rajah of Ramgarh. It records the Parliamentary Sub-Committee’s March 1962 decision that the Party would assume responsibility for repaying the bank loan, subject to the Rajah paying Rs. 1,20,000 plus accrued interest, while continuing monthly instalments of Rs. 20,000 on his behalf if necessary. It also describes an arrangement under which jeeps retained in Bihar would be registered in the name of the Bihar State Party and held for the Centre’s use.

The note then traces correspondence and administrative action from April through October 1962. It states that no reply was received from Kamakhya Narain Singh concerning repayment, rejects claims by Bateshwar Prasad Singh that the overdraft was the Party’s liability, and says the General Secretary corrected those representations to the bank with K. M. Munshi’s approval. The Parliamentary Board authorised payments through October, after which the note states that no further payments would be made on the Rajah’s behalf. The document is therefore primarily a chronological institutional record of liability, repayment commitments, and the Party’s response to disputed representations.

Key points

• The Parliamentary Sub-Committee reviewed the Bihar jeep credit at its 14 March 1962 meeting in Bombay.
• The Party proposed repayment of Rs. 2,30,000, including payments already made, while requiring the Rajah of Ramgarh to pay Rs. 1,20,000 plus interest.
• Monthly instalments of Rs. 20,000 were to continue on the Rajah’s behalf if his own repayment was not made.
• Jeeps retained in Bihar were to be registered to the Bihar State Party and held for the Centre’s use.
• The General Secretary corresponded with Kamakhya Narain Singh and later with his brother, Basant Narain Singh, seeking repayment and correcting disputed claims.
• The Party denied responsibility for the Rajah’s overdraft account while acknowledging liability for payments made on his behalf.
• The Parliamentary Board approved payments for August, September, and October 1962, after which the note says further payments would stop.