CBI conducts raid at central health depot in Mumbai

CBI conducts raid at central health depot in Mumbai

Officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday raided the office of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) at Sion-Koliwada and seized medicines which are believed to be fake.

Pravin Salunkhe, deputy inspector general, CBI, said they had received information that bogus and expired drugs were being dispatched from the centralised depot of CGHS, which comes under the directorate of health.

“The CGHS supplies medicines to around 28 dispensaries, polyclinics and hospitals in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. We have taken around 12 samples of the medicines,” a CBI officer said.

The officer said a central drug inspector had accompanied them at the raid.

The samples will be sent for chemical analysis to the forensic laboratory on Wednesday. The officer said these medicines are meant for central government employees in Mumbai and the beneficiaries are nearly 1 lakh people.

Source: DNA India

Steps Taken for Speedy Trial of CBI Cases

Steps Taken for Speedy Trial of CBI Cases

In order to facilitate speedy trial of cases investigated by the CBI, the Government has decided to set up 71 additional Special Courts, approved 284 posts of Prosecuting Officers with supporting staff and notified a new scheme for engaging Law Officers on contract basis for a period up to five years.

Similarly, to fill up the vacancies in the CBI at the earliest, several steps have been taken which, inter-alia, include:

• Grant of Special Incentive Allowance @ 25% of Pay up to the level of Senior Superintendent of Police and @ 15% for officers above that rank to attract officers on deputation.

• Amendment and rationalization of recruitment rules for various posts from time to time to meet the changing requirements of the CBI.

• Decentralization of induction of officers upto Inspector level on deputation

• Diversion of 77 posts of Deputy Superintendent of Police from deputation quota to promotion quota, as a one time measure in relaxation of Recruitment Rules to expedite filling up of these posts.

The trial of cases investigated by the CBI takes longer time than conventional cases as it often involves complicated questions of fact and law, necessitating examination of a large number of witnesses, besides proving voluminous documents. The accused also generally exhausts all possible avenues available under the criminal justice system to prolong trial proceedings.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri Prithviraj Chavan in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act against the public servants including senior officers

2439 CBI Cases Against Public Servants Under PC Act

The CBI has registered 2439 cases under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act against the public servants including senior officers during the last three years i.e. 2007, 2008, 2009 and the current year (upto March, 2010). The year wise number of cases registered are as follows:

Year	No. of cases registered
2007	688
2008	744
2009	795
20010(Upto 31.3.2010)	212

Whether a person is guilty or otherwise can only be decided by Court after trial. However, in CBI cases under PC Act, the following number of cases have ended in conviction during last three years and the current year:

Year	No. of cases ended in conviction
2007	238
2008	216
2009	230
20010(Upto 31.3.2010)	48

Government is fully committed to implement its policy of “Zero Tolerance against Corruption” and is moving progressively to eradicate corruption from all spheres of life by improving transparency and accountability. Several steps have been taken to combat corruption and to improve the functioning of Government. These include:

(i) Issue of Whistle Blowers Resolution, 2004 (ii) Enactment of Right to Information Act, 2005

(iii) The pro-active involvement of Ministry/Department through Annual Action Plan on Vigilance as a preventive measure

(iv) Issue of comprehensive instructions on transparency in tendering and contracting process by the CVC

(v) Issue of instructions advising the State Governments to adopt Integrity Pact in major procurements

(vi) Introduction of e-Governance and simplification of procedures and systems

(vii) Issue of Citizen Charters.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri Prithviraj Chavan in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Investigation enquiry against officers of the level of Joint Secretary and above are pending as on 15.4.2010

Permission To CBI For Investigating Senior Officers

Seven requests of CBI under Section 6-A of Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (DSPE Act) for undertaking investigation enquiry against officers of the level of Joint Secretary and above are pending as on 15.4.2010 with the following Ministries/Departments of the Government of India.

Name of the Ministry/Department	Number of Requests pending
Ministry of Human Resources and Development	1
Department of Atomic Energy	1
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare	1
Ministry of Railways	1
Ministry of Finance(Department of Financial Services	1
Ministry of Coal	1
Total	7

The individual administrataive ministry is required to dispose of such requests in accordance with the provisions of the DSPE Act.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri Prithviraj Chavan in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Army officers held for clearing substandard equipment

CBI arrested the three for facilitating the supply of substandard non-skid chains to the Army worth Rs 1.58 crore in 2006

Three Army officers were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation-Anti Corruption Bureau (CBI-ACB) on Wednesday for facilitating the supply of substandard non-skid chains to the Army worth Rs 1.58 crore in 2006.

Jaywantrao Yadavrao Pawar, A Prabhakaran and Fayazoddin were produced before the district court where they were remanded to police custody for two days. Pawar is the deputy director general (administration), directorate general of quality assurance, Ministry of Defence in New Delhi, Prabhakaran is joint controller of quality assurance, heavy vehicles in Chennai and Fayazoddin retired as group officer, vehicle quality assurance wing in Pune.

Subash Chandra Gupta, additional superintendent of police, CBI-ACB said, “In December 2007, the CBI registered a case against five accused including Pawar, the then officiating controller of quality assurance, Ahmednagar on allegations of supply of substandard non-skid chains by Sunil Sharma, co-accused in the case, to the Indian army. Anti-skid chains are used in Army vehicles in snow-bound high altitude areas and are a critical item for operational purposes. Any failure in performance of these chains may result in loss of human life and equipment belonging to the Army.”
Source: Indian Express

CBI Mumbai organised a record 30 trap cases in 2009

The performance of the Mumbai Zone of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) in 2009 has been exemplary as it managed to register a record number of 30 "trap" cases. It outdid all other zones and branches in the country as it brought to book a considerable number of top notch officials from various government departments. It overshot the overall annual target by over 25 percent in the year gone by registering 52 cases, disposing 67 from investigation and 38 from trial.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Rishi Raj Singh, CBI Joint Director (west zone), enlisted the various prominent cases of corruption and disproportionate assets against various civil servants. The most important one was the arrest of Sarobjit Singh aka Sweety Baba, son of Buta Singh, Chairman of National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on July 31, 2009. Sarobjit Singh was wanted for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 1 crore from a Nashik-based contractor to close a case against him in the Commission. "It was an important trap case where we also recovered three unlicensed arms. The charge sheet will be filed in the next 5 days" remarked Singh.

Other important trap cases were those that included top officers of various government departments accepting bribes and amassing wealth. The list includes the likes of Income Tax officials Additional Commissioner Kesh Kamat, Assistant Commissioner Rajkumar Bhatia Liladhar Humney, Asst. Wireless Advisor, Regional Licensing Office, and officers of departments like Food Corporation of India (FCI), Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel who were charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI trapped RPF personnel who were allegedly collecting money illegally in an organised manner by demanding Rs 100 per passenger, amounting to nearly 1.60 lakh Rupees per day, for seats in the general compartment of trains originating from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai.

A charge-sheet was filed against the then Commissioner of Customs & Central Excise P.K. Ajwani, who was found to have amassed wealth amounting to 10.76 crores which was over 2095 per cent dis-proportionate to his income. The CBI seized around Rs 6.15 Crores in cash from his official residence. Another Dis-proportionate asset case was registered against Shri Ajay Kumar Singh, Commissioner of Income tax, who has been charge-sheeted recently.

The amount involved here was Rs 4 crore. The CBI also uncovered a housing scam involving the quarters allotted to central government employees. It conducted widespread surprise inspections of 9000 Central Public Works Department Quarters in Mumbai that led to revelation of Nexus between the touts and officials of Estate Department. Over 300 quarters were found illegally occupied.

This unearthing of wrong doings by the agency has helped save a lot of tax payer's money. The collection of The Employees Provident Fund showed a spurt of nearly Rs 1500 crores owing to the actions of CBI which registered cases of corruption Dis-proportionate assets and cheating against the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Mumbai, and an Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner.

Seeking active co-operation from the citizens Singh remarked, "Over 70 percent of the cases that we dealt with were based on information that we received from the general public. This year too we urge the public to bring to our notice any objectionable practices and assure them of effective action." The CBI intends to outdo its performance in the coming year and reach out to all 35 districts and union territories in the Maharashtra taking complaints in person.
Source:Central chronicle