Where is Runu Ghosh?

As the order in Sukh Rams disproportionate assets case came on Wednesday,one name that had been closely linked with the former Union minister and the scandal 13......

As the order in Sukh Rams disproportionate assets case came on Wednesday,one name that had been closely linked with the former Union minister and the scandal 13 years ago remained in the shadows: Runu Ghosh.

No one has seen and heard of the then deputy director general,Department of Telecom,who was convicted and sentenced along with Sukh Ram in the other case filed against the minister,for favouring a firm in allotment of a contract. Having faced suspension,followed by dismissal,Ghosh has retreated into oblivion,though still fighting her case in court.

Wary of bad publicity,she refuses to divulge details of her whereabouts,the status of her pending appeal in the High Court or her association with Sukh Ram. The media has already maligned me enough, she told The Indian Express. So what if I was convicted? There are cases lodged against hundreds others.

In July 2002,Ghosh,along with then Union Communications Minister Sukh Ram,was convicted and sentenced by a Delhi court that found the two guilty of causing a loss of about Rs 1.68 crore to the exchequer by awarding a telecom equipment contract to a private firm.

The chargesheet filed by the CBI at the time stated that Ghosh,in her capacity as director,and in conspiracy with Sukh Ram and with the owner of the Hyderabad-based firm Advance Radio Masts ARM Limited,had caused pecuniary advantage to herself.

In the early 1990s,the DoT had invited bids for Multi-Access Rural Radio systems to expand the countrys rural telecommunications network. Thirty-five companies,including ARM,submitted bids,which were opened in March 1993. Ghosh then recommended that the contract be granted to ARM even though the companys equipment was found to be of inferior quality.

The court concluded that Ghoshs conduct in the episode indicated she was keen to favour ARM. It also said that the recovery of blank letterheads signed by ARM Director Rama Rao from Ghoshs office pointed to his proximity to her.

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She was sentenced to two years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000. She was later granted bail,pending an appeal. While she was suspended after her arrest in 1996,after her conviction,the Government ordered a departmental inquiry. She was dismissed on November 14,2003,on the basis of the inquiry. At the time,she was serving as General Manager Finance in Ahmedabad.