Railway bribery case: Court takes note of CBI’s chargesheet

The first tranche of nearly Rs 90 lakhs was given to Singla who was apprehended while accepting the money,it said. Detailing Singla’s role,CBI said he had accepted a bribe of Rs 90 lakhs on May 3,this year in his office. “He (Singla) is the Managing Director,M/s JTL Infra Ltd,Chandigarh and is the nephew (sister’s son) of the then Minister of Railways Pawan Kumar Bansal. “There is evidence that he accepted bribe of Rs 90 lakhs on May 3,2013 in his office,which was the part payment of total bribe of Rs 10 crores for the alleged appointment of Kumar as Member (electrical),” the chargesheet said. CBI alleged that Singla was the “main person” whose influence was to be used for the appointment of Kumar.

“There is also evidence in the form of his telephonic conversations… with Sandeep Goyal and Ajay Garg which establish that he intended to use his personal influence for the desired appointment of Kumar. “Moreover,he was caught on the spot while accepting the bribe of Rs 90 lakhs from his office premises at Chandigarh. He was the main person whose influence was to be used for the appointment of Kumar at his desired post of Member (Electrical),” the chargesheet said. Regarding Kumar,the agency said he himself took the “initiative for his desired appointment and visited Delhi and also visited the residence of the (then) Minister of Railways to discuss about his posting as Member (electrical) with Singla”.

The agency said that Kumar’s “modus operandi” was to obtain illegal gratification from private parties with the assurance to promote them after becoming Member (Electrical). “The modus operandi adopted by Kumar was to obtain illegal gratification from the private parties involved in manufacturing of S and T items with the assurance to promote them after becoming Member (Electrical) and through them the same money was given to the nephew of the then Railways Minister.

“His act may be described as asking bribe to pay further bribe and therefore,constitutes a unique instance of ‘bribe in bribe’ i.e. using the bribe money for own purpose without receiving the same directly,” the chargesheet said. Describing Manjunath’s role,the agency said,”He was the key person who arranged the whole conspiracy and also arranged the bribe amount”.

The agency said in its chargesheet the sanction to prosecute Kumar under the Prevention of Corruption Act is awaited from the competent authority and would be submitted before the court after it is received. CBI had earlier alleged that the deal was struck through Ajay and Sandeep whereas Kumar had entrusted Manjunath for arranging the money and getting it delivered to Singla and Goyal through hawala route.