Former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has been named as a prosecution witness in the railway bribery scandal by the CBI. In the wake of the bribery scandal, Mr Bansal had to quit as the railway minister.
The CBI on June 2 filed its chargesheet in the case against 10 accused which included Vijay Singla (nephew of the former railway minister), Mahesh Kumar (suspended railway board member), middlemen Sandeep Goyal, Samir Sandhir, Sushil Daga, Ajay Garg, Rahul Yadav, businessman Manjunath and his two aides P.V. Murali and Venugopal. The two courier boys who delivered the bribe amount have not been named in the chargesheet.
The agency filed a list of 90 prosecution witnesses, including Mr Bansal, along with the chargesheet in a special CBI court in Delhi. The former railway minister has been named as the 39th witness of the agency.
Besides Mr Bansal, the agency has also named former railway board chairman Vinay Mittal, who retired from his post on July 1 this year, as a prosecution witness in the case. The railway board’s joint secretary (confidential), P. Rajeshkaran, and joint director vigilance (int), R. Vijayan Nair, has also been named as witnesses by the CBI. Several officials from various banks have also been named as witnesses by the agency.
Special CBI judge Swarana Kanta Sharma took cognisance of the CBI’s chargesheet filed against Mr Singla, the then member (staff) of railway board, Mahesh Kumar and eight others. “Moreover, Singla was caught on the spot while accepting the bribe of `90 lakhs from his office premises at Chandigarh. He was the main person whose influence was to be used for the appointment of Mahesh Kumar at his desired post of member (electrical),” the CBI chargesheet said.
The CBI alleged that Mr Singla had demanded `10 crores from Mr Kumar for his appointment to the post of member (electrical) and it was decided between the accused that `5 crores will be paid before the appointment and the rest will be paid after the job was done. The first tranche of `89.68 lakhs was given to Mr Singla who was apprehended while accepting the money, it said.
Referring to Mahesh 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”.