PTI
Former
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla and nine
others, arrested in the Rs 10-crore cash-for-post railway bribery case,
will face trial with a special court today framing charges of criminal
conspiracy and corruption against them.
Paving the way for the trial, Special CBI Judge Swarana
Kanta Sharma framed the charges against the 10 accused under section
120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC read with provisions of
Prevention of Corruption Act and posted the matter for August 25 for
commencement of recording of evidence in the case.
After the court framed charges against them, the accused said, "We do not plead guilty and claim trial."
Congress leader Bansal, who resigned as the Railway
Minister in May last year after the case came to light, has been arrayed
as a prosecution witness by the CBI in its charge sheet filed last
year.
"You (Singla) during the period between January 2013 to
May 3, 2013 had accepted illegal gratification of Rs 89,68,000 from your
co-accused Mahesh Kumar, N R Manjunath, Rahul Yadav, Sameer Sandhir,
Sushil Daga, C V Venugopal and M V Murali Krishan for yourself or for
any other person as a motive or reward for inducing by the exercise of
your personal influence on any public servant for appointing your
co-accused Mahesh Kumar as Member (electrical) in Railway Board and
thereby you committed an offence under section 9 of Prevention of
Corruption Act 1988 and within my cognisance," the judge said.
The court had earlier ordered framing of charges against
all the accused, including the then Member (Staff) of Railway Board
Mahesh Kumar.
Apart from Kumar and Singla, the court framed charges
against Managing Director of Bangalore-based G G Tronics India Pvt
Limited N R Manjunath, middlemen Ajay Garg and Sandeep Goyal besides
Rahul Yadav, Sameer Sandhir, Sushil Daga, C V Venugopal and M V Murali
Krishan.
The matter has now been fixed for August 25 for recording
of statements of prosecution witnesses, Vinay Mittal, former Chairman of
Railway Board and another official of Ministry of Railways.
The court observed that the accused had prima facie
entered into a criminal conspiracy to get Mahesh Kumar appointed as
Member(Electrical) in the Railway Board and for that Singla was to be
paid Rs 10 crore illegal gratification.
It observed that as per the records placed before it, Rs
two crore was to be paid immediately and Kumar had instructed Manjunath
to arrange the bribe of Rs two crore through other co-accused.
"You (Kumar) during between January 2013 to May 3, 2013
while working in various capacities, General Manager, western Railways
till forenoon of May 1, 2013 and Member (staff) Railway Board in the
Ministry of Railways as public servant at various places i.e. Delhi and
Mumbai had demanded illegal gratification of Rs 2 crore and had accepted
part of it from your co-accused," the judge said.
"You Mahesh Kumar ...by abusing your official position
obtained pecuniary advantage to the tune of Rs 89,68,000 from accused N R
Manjunath, Rahul Yadav, Sameer Sandhir, Sushil Daga, C V Venugopal and M
V Murali Krishan which was delivered on your behalf to Vijay Singla and
Sandeep Goyal at Chandigarh and thereby you committed an offence under
section 13 (2) read with 13(1)(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act 1988
and within my cognisance," the judge said.
The court, while ordering framing of charges, had said
that corruption in the country has reached "unimaginable proportions"
and the case revealed a "novel way" of payment of bribe to achieve the
aim.
"As I had observed earlier in my order, the culture of
'Sifarish' (recommendation) and right contacts with powerful persons are
the only thing which matter today for earning quick money.
"Needless to say, with each changing day, the modus
operandi of such corrupt person is also not only changing but the
corrupt are becoming more cautious and secretive taking lessons from the
previous instances of cases where corrupt officers have been caught and
sent for trial," the judge had said. |
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