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I am happy to be here with you this afternoon after nearly
3 months. Such interactions have helped us in informing the
public about the role of CBI in its drive against corruption
and handling of other important investigations.
Let me quickly recapitulate the important activities that
took place since the last press conference on 30.06.05. CBI
took the initiative of conducting seminars and workshops all
across the country about anti corruption measures. We issued
advertisements in electronic and print media recently to encourage
people to come forward and report corruption. Initiative was
also taken to arrest accused persons who were absconding and
evading the due process of law for long. During a month long
drive, we were able to arrest as many as 95 proclaimed offenders/absconders.
In passing, I will mention two more things. First, increasing
demands for CBI enquiry in conventional crimes like murder,
rape, abduction, question papers leakage, malpractices in
group housing societies etc. Second, CBI is getting increasing
attention at the international level also. Several countries
have sent their delegations to India for holding discussions
with us for bilateral cooperation. In this context, I am glad
to inform you that image of CBI has helped me in getting elected
to the post of Vice President of Interpol. I am grateful to
you for the coverage of the event in the media.
I will also like to share some statistics about achievements
of the CBI. We have registered 865 cases till 31.8.2005 which
includes 104 cases registered regarding possession of disproportionate
assets by public servants. In 2003 and 2004, 82 and 84 such
cases were registered. This increase is a result of our proactive
approach in unearthing ill gotten assets of public servants.
Further, during this period, 60 cases have been registered
on references received from the constitutional courts, i.e.,
Supreme Court/High Courts and 21 cases have been registered
on the requests of various State Governments. We completed
investigations in 726 cases out of which charge sheets were
filed in the competent courts in as many as 472 cases and
95 cases were sent for initiating departmental action against
the delinquents.
Coming to the event, for which this Press Conference has
been called, I would like to inform you that we are conducting
our fourth nation-wide special drive of 2005 today to nab
corrupt public servants. The earlier drives were conducted
on 2nd February, 6th April and 30th June, 2005. The objective
of this drive is to target public servants of doubtful integrity
in corruption prone departments.
During the 4th Special Drive held today i.e. on 30.9.2005,
the main focus of our attention has been, as earlier, on detection
of disproportionate assets cases against corrupt public servant.
During this Special Drive today, we have registered 58 cases
against 70 public servants out of which 4 cases are against
officers of the level of Joint Secretary and above. These
officers belong to the departments of Customs, Income Tax
and BSNL.
Till 31.8.2005 we had registered 104 cases of Disproportionate
Assets. Today in addition, we have registered 39 more cases
of Disproportionate Assets. Thus taking the total to 143 cases
registered under this head during this year.
Searches have been conducted at 198 places in 54 cities
/ towns throughout the country. These cities and towns are
Delhi (34), Mumbai (25), Jaipur(9), Patna (8), Kolkata (7),
Chennai (5), Howrah (5), Vaishali (4), Nagpur (4), Dhanbad(3),
Ranchi (3), Jind (4), Hazaribagh (2), Noida (2), Anand Nagar
(2), Devgarh, Dhumka, Gudappa, Coimbatore, Ahemedabad, Faridabad,
Sonipat, Lucknow,Trichi, Trivandrum, Kottayam, Dhanapur, Goa,
Bhojpur, Trichur, Bhagalpur, Parwanu and Chambaghat in Himachal
Pradesh etc.,
During the Special Drive, cases have been registered against
officers belonging to the departments of ; Customs and Central
Excise (11 cases), BSNL (4), Income Tax (3), ONGC (2), MCD(2),
CAPART (4), National Council of Homeopathy (2), Nationalised
Banks (4), Railways (2), Insurance, Bombay Port Trust, IIT
Delhi, CBI, Cotton Corporation of India, Indian Airlines,
BCCL, NCB and Delhi Police etc.,
The cases have been registered under the Prevention of Corruption
Act, 1988 for demanding and accepting bribes, Disproportionate
Assets and abuse of official position to cause monetary gain
to private persons / firms and wrongful loss to the government.
Indian Penel Code for cheating, forgery, criminal breach of
trust, criminal conspiracy. During this drive as per information
received so far moveable / immovable properties worth Rs.14.28
crore have been detected and Cash of Rs 80 lakhs recovered.
The searches are continuing and information is still being
collected/ received. The propeties which have been identified
are yet to be evaluated.
Brief of some Important cases
A case has been registered against Commissioner of Income
Tax (IRS-1977) posted in Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai
for possession of assets to the tune of Rs. 43 lacs which
are disproportionate to his known sources of income. During
searches cash worth Rs. 8.5 lacs, 18 plots of land in Jaipur
and palatial house worth Rs. 1 crore has been detected. (RC
3(A)/2005-ACU-V)
A case of disproportionate assets amounting to Rs. 34 lacs
has been registered against Commissioner of Customs and Central
Excise (IC&CES-84) presently posted as Addl. DG, National
Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics, Hazaribagh. Searches
are continuing and so far investment worth Rs. 50 lacs have
been detected. (RC 3(A)/2005-ACU-II)
A case has been registered against 4 officers of BSNL Aurangabad
and private persons of M/s Xerox Modi Corp. Ltd. for entering
into a conpiracy whereby tender of printing of telephone bills
was fraudulently awarded to the company by officers of BSNL.
The then GM BSNL Aurangabad is presently senior DDG, BSNL,
New Delhi and in the pay scale of Addl. Secretary to GOI.
Permission under 6(A) of DSPE Act was taken from the government
for investigating the case. (RC 8(E)2005EOU-IV)
A case has been registered against Commissioner of Income
Tax, Appeals, Barhampur, Orissa (IRS-1977) for possession
of assets to the tune of Rs. 27 lacs which are disproportionate
to his known sources of income. (RC 6(A)2004-ACU-IV)
A case has been registered against Project Manager of M/s
Clough Engineering Ltd. Australia for wrongful claim of insurance
premium from ONGC in collusion with the officers of the ONGC.
The company was awarded works at the offshore oil fields at
a total cost of Rs.1280 crores approx. Out of this project
cost, the first payment pertains to insurance premium of Rs.
112.19 crores. M/s Clough Engineering Ltd. obtained insurance
policy only for Rs. 17.36 crores but claimed Rs. 112.19 crores
from ONGC thereby causing loss of Rs. 94 crores to ONGC. (RC
8(E)/2005-EOW Chennai)
A case of criminal misconduct has been registered against
President, Vice President and Secretary of Central Council
of Homeopathy, New Delhi for abusing their position in granting
recognition to various Homeopathy Medical Colleges in violation
of norms and guidelines of Govt. of India. (RC 4(A)/2005-ACU-IX)
A case has been registered against Deputy Chief Engineer
of Southern Railways, Trivandrum for amassing assets to the
tune of Rs. 14.76 lacs approx. which is disproportionate to
his known sources of income. Apart from moveable and immovable
properties, cash worth Rs. 90 thousand has been detected in
the searches so far. (RC 23/2005-ACB Cochin)
A case has been registered against Superintendent, Central
Excise, Chennai for possession of disproportionate assets
to the tune of Rs. 35 lacs. During the searches conducted
so far movable and immovable assets to the tune of Rs. 1.1
crores have been detected. Two lockers have also been detected
which are yet to be opened. (RC 49(A)2005-ACB Chennai)
A case has been registered against M/s Ritz International,
M/s Shree Hari Exports, M/s T.K. Creations and M/s Heritage
Enterprises of Mumbai for criminal conspiracy with Freight
Agent of M/s Yash Freight Forwarders, Mumbai and Customs and
Preventive officer whereby false customs duty draw back to
the tune of Rs. 3.19 crores were obtained in the matter of
export of fabrics. (RC 8(E)/2005-EOW Mumbai)
A case has been registered against Director of M/s Beautiful
Relators Ltd. and M/s Crystal Gems and senior officers of
Erstwhile Global Trust Bank for fraudulently obtaining credit
facilities amounting to Rs. 19.5 crores and circumventing
embargo put by RBI. (RC 12/2005-BS&FC Mumbai)
4 cases have been registered against the then member convenor
of CAPART, Patna for abusing his official position and dishonestly
and fraudulently sanctioning various amounts as assistance
to various NGOs like Adarsh Jan Kalyan Kendra, Kalyan Upbhokta
Shiksha Evam Anusandhan Samiti, Manav Jagriti, Bhumika Vaishali
etc. in year 2002. (RC 22-26(A)/2005-ACB Patna)
A case has been registered against Director of M/S PEPCO
and senior officers of Erstwhile Global Trust Bank for fraudulently
sanction of US $ 15.5 million. This was when, even the land
for the project was not acquired. Subsequently, Rs. 16 crores
were released to meet project expenses based on misrepresentation
of facts. No security was obtained. (RC 11(E)/2005-BS&FC
Mumbai)
A case has been registered against Assistant Research Engineer
of Research Design Standard Organisation, Lucknow for demanding
and accepting bribe of Rs. 18,000/- in return for official
favour. The officer has been arrested. (RC 48(A)2005-ACB Kolkata)
A case has been registered against Director, National Council
for Promotion of Urdu under the HRD Ministry for possession
of assets to the tune of Rs. 28 lacs which are disproportionate
to his known source of income. During the searches apart from
moveable/immovable properties worth Rs. 1.8 crores, cash of
Rs. 3.06 lacs has also been recovered. (RC 50(A)/2005-ACB
Delhi)
A case has been registered against SHO, Tuglak Road, Police
Station, New Delhi for possession of assets to the tune of
Rs. 40 lacs which are disproportionate assets to his known
source of income. During the searches apart from moveable/immovable
properties worth Rs. 75 lacs, cash of Rs. 1.07 lacs has also
been recovered. (RC 51(A)/2005-ACB Delhi)
A case has been registered against Assistant Commissioner
of Income Tax, Delhi for possession of assets to the tune
of Rs. 45 lacs which are disproportionate to his known source
of income.(RC 52(A)/2005-ACB Delhi)
A case has been registered against Institute Engineer, IIT
Delhi for possession of assets to the tune of Rs. 56 lacs
which are disproportionate to his known source of income.
During the searches conducted so far assets worth Rs. 1.1
crores have been detected so far. (RC 54(A)/2005-ACB Delhi)
A case of disproportionate assets has been registered against
an Assistant Sanitory Inspector, MCD. During searches total
assets worth Rs. 67 lacs including cash of Rs. 2.9 lacs has
been detected. (RC 48(A)/2005-ACB Delhi)
A case of disproportionate assets has been registered against
a Superintendent of Central Excise (Anti Evasion), Faridabad.
Searches conducted so far have revealed assets worth Rs. 1.2
crores including cash of Rs. 10 lacs. (RC 7/2005-EOU-I)
A case has been registered against Superintendent Engineer,
Bombay Port Trust for amassing disproportionate assets to
his known source of income. (RC 44(A)/2005-ACB Mumbai)
A case has been registered against Director of Bureau of
Indian Standards, Mumbai for possession of disproportionate
assets to his known source of income. (RC48(A)/2005-ACB Mumbai)
A case has been registered against Assistant Commissioner
of Customs (Cargo), Sahar, Mumbai for possession of disproportionate
assets to his known source of income. (RC 45(A)/2005-ACB Mumbai)
The Special Investigating Team(SIT) of CBI which has been
investigating the case of Sariska wildlife reserve has arrested
one of the most notorious poachers Kalya Bawaria from village
Abheypura in Rajasthan after a carefully plan operation along
with Rajasthan Police on 29.9.2005. 3 Topidar Guns (believed
to have been used in killings of animals), one Air gun with
steal pallets, two horns of animals, 2 broken teeth suspected
to be of leopard/Tiger, one steal Khatka used for trapping
and killing wild animals, were recovered and seized. The accused
is involved in four CBI cases and 6 cases registered by Forest
Department of Sariska pertaining to Tiger/Leopard poaching.
He is being brought on police custody for a thorough interrogation
to unearth the entire organized racket of poaching in Sariska
and other Reserves, with linkages to notorious wildlife smuggler
Sansar Chand.
A case had been registered earlier in 2003 on the orders
of the Punjab & Haryana High Court about scandal in the
matter of recruitment of Punchayat Secretaries in the State
of Punjab from 1996 to 2001. During investigation of this
case 5 places are being searched in Punjab. (RC 8/2003-SCR-III)
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