Bribery case: CBI questions Pawan Kumar Bansal

Bansal,who had to resign from the Union Cabinet in the aftermath of the case involving his nephew who is alleged to have been operating from his official residence,has been maintaining that he had done no wrong in the appointment of Kumar as Member of the Railway Board,a post equivalent to the Secretary in government.

While CBI has managed to secure all files pertaining to the appointment and also recorded the statement of Kumar,his nephew and Private Secretary Rahul Bhandari,Bansal will be confronted with the evidence collected by the probe agency about his meeting with the suspended Railway Board member in Mumbai on April 16 this year.

Bansal is alleged to have met Kumar in Mumbai on April 16 and the agency claimed that during this meeting the appointment of Kumar,who was General Manager West,was confirmed.

CBI sources said questioning Singla and his associates had led the agency to understand 8220;the role of authority which was supposed to change Kumar8217;s discipline from Member staff to Member Electrical and allow him to continue with additional charge of GM West.8221;

Lateral shifting of the Board members is done in the same manner as the appointment of a new member,which is finalised after vigilance clearance and the nod of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

There are some telephonic intercepts which may come up during the questioning of Bansal,the sources said.

Over 1,000 phone calls were intercepted during the two-month surveillance on Mahesh Kumar and Singla. CBI has so far arrested nine persons in the case.