US ‘bribes’ to Indian govt staff: CBI probe on,CVC alerted too

While Shankar’s letter was received on May 12,officials said,action on it could only be taken on June 1 — due to the elections — when the government referred it to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT),the nodal ministry for the CBI.

The letter had details of “seven instances of corruption” involving US companies. Of these,four pertained to alleged corruption that occurred when the BJP-led NDA was in power.

After the PMO referred Shankar’s letter to the DoPT,it,in turn,sent it to the Railway,Agricultural and Defence Ministries, the Maharashtra government and the Department of Revenue (Enforcement Directorate).

The DoPT wrote back to the PMO in early August saying that the matter has been referred to the relevant departments. However,unhappy over the reply,the PMO sent a letter to the DoPT on August 19 asking it to revert with a definitive reply with Action Taken Reports in all these cases.

On October 1,the DoPT told the PMO that the CBI had begun investigations into the allegations that Dow Chemicals made “improper payments” of close to $200,000 to government officials and a particular official of the Central Insecticides Board.

Sources said that besides the CBI,other investigating agencies including the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Vigilance Commission,have already been sent references to probe and report on the allegations.