Corruption is a political and economic disaster which causes social inequality
and economic efficiency, any incidence of corruption shows that the government
is not working towards public welfare. corruption is hindrance in goals of
growth, poverty alleviation and control of inflation scams in India are
discovered every day and most of these scams are committed by people belonging
to elite class of businessmen and politicians.
There is a special law i.e.
extradition law in place for those culprits who absconds the country after
committing their scam in the hope of shelter from domestic law. The culprits can
be brought under the ambit of Indian law via extradition law and various
international treaties signed amongst different countries. Scams like Satyam,
2G, Charaghotala etc have shook India to core leaving people wondering to what
is the cure for the poison of corruption.
The corruption termite is feasting
upon the nation for far too long, even though country is considered as socialist
state it is reduced to a commodity of exploitation. Why should few corrupt
people prosper over the cost of whole country??
The Commonwealth Scam
Common Wealth is a multinational sporting event which is held amongst the
commonwealth nations. The first of its event was organised in 1930, and since
then it is conducted every four years. It Is the third largest sporting event
after Olympic and Asian Games. The event is governed by Commonwealth Games
Federation. The 54-member nations and 72 teams participated in the 2010
Commonwealth Games.
Embezzlement
The Commonwealth Games were organised in India in the year 2010 and an
astonishing amount of Rs. 70000 crores were embezzled from the funds provided
for conducting the event by means of inflated contracts, criminal conspiracy,
cheating and forgery. The architect of the scandal was Suresh Kalmadi(2010 Pune,
Lok Sabha,M.P). He was charged under Prevention of Corruption Act and was
arrested along with many others by CBI on 25th April2011. The connection with
the contract given to Swiss firms at an inflated rate of 141 crore by rejecting
a lower bid of 62 crore from a Spanish firm (MSL).
The government set up a special committee under V.K. Shunglu (former Comptroller
and Auditor General of India) The Shunglu Committee and several other agencies
like CBI, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), The Directorate General of Income
Tax Investigation, Enforcement Directorate etc. were also involved in the
investigation.
In Delhi high court in a case initially, during the proceedings questions was
raised whether the organising committee would be covered under the Right To
Information Act as it did not comes under the definition of ‘
State' as per
Article 12 of The Indian Constitution but at a subsequent stage (i.e. on January
2010) Delhi High Court delivered a judgement in the favour of government
claiming that The Right To Information Act was applicable on activities in
relation to Organising Committee as it was the government who provide finance to
conduct various activities. This judgement provided boost to various social
activist to expose the scam.
The construction of Shivaji Stadium is one of the leading examples which exposed
the fraud committed by the organising committee. The stadium was meant for
practice for women's Hockey Team, but due to delay in renovation the place was
rendered useless even for practices. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) gave
the tender to M/s China Railway Shsiju Group Corporation at an estimated price
of 11.5 Million US $ which was later negotiated by the group to 23 Million US $.
After getting the tender the company delegated its entire work to M/s Simplex
Project Ltd at half price to original. The renovation further includes various
corruption activities like CRSGC via SPL imported charges at an inflated rate of
6 to 7 times of the price available in the local market. In the investigation
conducted by various bodies, it was found that the delegation by CRSGCto SPL was
illegal.
The biggest failure of the event can be seen through the incident of collapse of
a bridge near Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium resulting into injuries of 23 labourers
and 5 of them were seriously injured.
Allotment of Tickets
The process of appointing ticket consultant was delayed for 13 months and the
marketing tickets was not started till September 2010 due to which a campaign
was launched resulting in costs of 6 crores which was unplanned and wasteful
expenditure.
Inefficient Sales
The percentage of sale of complementary tickets were a lot higher as compared to
earlier edition and there were also a large number of unsold tickets.22900 seats
were given complementary which had a market value of 56.6 crores and out of
these seats 1/3rd of the seats were of higher value of 50000 each in contract,
7500 of total seats worth 82.54 crores
Tickets valuing 3 crores were sold at 90% discount to the business club of
India, which generated no sponsorship revenue.
Supply of Water Dispensers
Water dispensers were purchased by the organising committee at a cost of 3.82
crore. This was an unnecessary expenditure as Coca Cola was to provide mineral
water throughout the games under the sponsorship programme and further the Delhi
Jal Board also provided water at venues for which an amount of 0.26 crore was
payable. An order of 9 silver and gold plaques was placed on 23rd October 2009
by the organising committee at a cost of Rs. 14 Lakh as gift items for QBR
launch. Only 72 Plaques were supplied and 52 plaques were shown in records.
At a cost of .34 crore an advertisement was published by the organising
committee for justifying the rate of tissue rolls as per box of 100 rolls and
not per roll. The information given in the advertisement was misleading.
An excess amount of Rs 13.39 crore was spent by the organising committee on
rental rate of pre-fabricated structures at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium.
For opening and closing ceremonies a contract of 16.49 crores relating to art
direction was given to Blue Lotus Production without any approved list. Many
props were not utilised and some of them were not even received like Polo
Circles(just a ply piece covered with cloth Rs. 13425 per piece) were bot used.
Sports equipment were also unused at various locations even after the common
wealth games were concluded like 10 trampolines costing .34 crores were unused
and kept at ITPO store. Two trampolines worth .11 crore were purchased without
any event scheduled for the same.
16 storage trollies costing 2.5 crores were procured but never available at Dr
SPM Aquatics Complex.
Purchase of Shuttle Cocks
The purchase of shuttle cocks was reckless because a total 2000 dozen shuttle
cocks were procured and 1000 dozen of them were rendered useless even before the
event commenced and the records show that 1392 dozen shuttle cocks which was 68%
of the total purchase worth .16 crore remained unutilised. Further the
organising committee placed a 1000 dozen shuttle cocks including 300 dozen
speed, 400 dozen speed-2 and 300 dozen speed-3 but the vendor supplied only
speed 1 and speed 2 shuttle cocks of the same quantity and the same was
accepted.
Delayed Supply of Equipment for Test Events and Training
Gymnastics equipment of Rs. 4.56 crore and aquatics equipment of Rs 1.08 crore
were scheduled to be delivered in the period of July to August 2010 but they
were delivered in August September 2010. The aforesaid delay caused cancellation
of the test events like swimming and high board diving. And due to equipment,
some equipment was transported from Pune to Ranchi.
A total of 17.84 crores was incurred on purchase of various forms of protective
coverage for grounds and out of that 4500 tiles valuing 2.02 crores and 16 rolls
valuing .20 crores remained unutilised because the area fixed for coverage was
subsequently reducedafter the issue of RFP.
Scoreboards Structure
The contract for scoreboard supplied by Omega Time was given to Advance Tech
Engineering at a cost of 3.4 crores. Scoreboard were installed at only 10 venues
out of total 33 venues and the location decided for rugby was changed by Swiss
Timing Omega at the very last moments during testing the scoreboard crashes and
were re installed thereafter.
Purchase of Low Floor Buses
DTC purchased 2500 low floor buses at an inflated price cited at para 5.26 in
the CAG report and further DTC purchased 625 additional buses with an extra
expenditure of 6.10 crore by exercising an option clause.
The Renovation and Restoration of Connaught Place
The renovation and restoration project of C.P was subject to undue delay as a
result of which the cost of the project reached 671 crores in July 2007 as
compared to the original estimated cost of Rs. 76 crores as of May 2005.
Complete Up gradation of Flats
It was seen that only 805 UG and 182 HIG flats were upgraded and transferred to
ITDG as opposed to the budgeted number of 2709 flats.
Award of Security Contract for WTP And STP to 122 FS
122 FS was awarded a contract for security arrangements at Game Village at a
cost of 0.42 crore which was increased to 0.72 crore in August 2010. The
contractors were given contracts without inviting tenders and there were many
irregularities
Poor Management of Taxation Issues
It was found that the Organising Committee handled the taxation issues without
the advice of any professional consultant.
Organising Committee paid taxes on behalf of 19 contract vendors which amounted
to 7.4 crores on a total payment of 134.09 crore
Organising Committee failed to obtain number of vendors within the prescribed
time limit as a result of which they had to pay TDS at a higher rate of 20%
amounting to 7.10 crore.
The Organising Committee was charged with a penal interest of 2.46 crore due to
failure for depositing Service Tax within the prescribed time limit in respect
of taxable services given by foreign service provider.
The Organising Committee collected a tax of 0.28 crore but failed to deposit it
The Organising Committee was also made to pay 30.75 crores in respect of
unregistered service provider.
Irregular Contracts
Due to poor management of time the contracts were not given to competent vendors
which sacrificed transparency, economy, and compliance with the standard
procedures. Contracts worth 310.68 crores were distributed without any previous
tender offers while 28 contracts worth 356.14 crore were allotted on the basis
of single tender. Contract for overlays, waste management and image and look
worth Rs. 1253.78 crore were given to vendors disqualified as per EOI/RFP.Even
after selection of vendors the signing of contract took severalmonths. The
amount of liability is still not honoured even after the culmination if common
wealth games. There were many urgent matters which required higher priorities in
terms of processing and approval but were not dealt with which resulted in
considerable delay.
The Organising Committee members were highly skilled and but still their
decision making was highly inadequate. The allotment of contract was done in an
arbitrary fashion and ad hoc manner and it was seen the vendors had no concern
in relation to administrative function. Documentation done by the Organising
Committee was very poorly managed which made it difficult to assure the
authenticity and completeness of records. After analysing the minutes, it was
discovered that there is undue manipulation. Several contracts were not
subjected to taxation and legal advice which made the Organising Committee
liable to bear the tax liability of such vendors.
The original budget did not take into account any expenses relating to account
any expenses relating to broadcasting, media, and telecom infrastructure. In the
absence of such a provision in the budget Prasar Bharti and HTNL acquired funds
for development of their personal infrastructure and both these agencies
outsourced their work completely.
The budget did not consist of expenses pertaining to Indian team for Common
Wealth Games initially, but Rs. 678 crores were latter provided in February
2008.
Documentation
Organising Committee did not follow the proper procedures for documentation as
there was proper system within the Organising Committee which provided for
filing essential transactions and recording of correspondence with different
agencies. The documentation was so poorly managed that there were certain
question relating to authenticity and completeness of the records for instance
files were not numbered and, in many cases, files only consist of loose sheets
and many documents were found missing on sampling basis.
Construction Of 1 M.G.D Sewage Treatment By DJB
The contract for sewage treatment plant was awarded by DJB to UEM India Ltd. for
24.72 crore with the additional cost of 7.2 crore for operation and maintenance
of 10 years and it was scheduled to be completed by 2009. There was an
extraordinary delay in STP and it was commenced on August 2010 rather than on
September 2009 as scheduled without the issue of completion certificate.
The STP planned to receive waste from game village, hotels and Akshardham temple
committee but in actual the plant was receiving waste only from Akshardham
temple and was utilised only up to 44% to 70% of the total capacity after
31st October 2010 the utilisation of STP was null due to non-evacuation the
effluents from the plants as a result of which the sewage waste was directed to
Madawal pumping station which was already operating at its full capacity
resulting in the deprivation of waste into .
Furniture
ITDC had not installed furniture worth 3.99 crore and 10.31 crore at Games
Village and Vasant Kunj respectively and the reasons stated by ITDC was that DDA
did not construct the flat within the prescribed time and only few flats were
received then promised due to which furniture were supplied in semi constructed
flats.
The 2G Scam
In May 2007, A Raja became the Telecom Minister. He was appointed as M.P from
Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. In august 2007 2G Spectrum was to be allotted by
department of Telecom. A spectrum is air waves which carries information. It is
considered as natural resources because it was not made by humans, it exists in
nature by itself and includes features like magnetic, gravitation, electrical
property. Spectrum is subject to sale because it is a natural resource and
property of the country. For better understanding, suppose the spectrum are
invisible roads and all the information like radio and telecommunication travel
through these roads.
In 2007 government intended to sell these spectrums and utilize its proceeds in
development of country. Availability of spectrum is limited and one spectrum
cannot be used for multiple purposes. 2G services were launched in India at 900
mega harts(MHZ). Later 4G services were launched at 1800 MHZ and 3G SERVICES
ranges from 900 MHZ to 2100 MHZ. international telecommunication union and
agency of telecommunication under the United Nations, responsible for
communication of information having its headquarters at Geneva.
On 25thSeptember, 2007 telecom ministry invited telecom companies to purchase
spectrum.
On October 1st, 2007 department of telecommunication receive 575
applications from 26 firms. On November 2, 2007 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
wrote a letter to A Raja and asked him to allocate the spectrum at the
reasonable prices.
The government proposes to sell the spectrum in two ways.
Firstly, on first come first services, secondly by means of auction Telecom
Ministry decided to sell the spectrum on first come first services, the deadline
for the sale of spectrum was time and again postponed. Finally, the spectrum was
sold to SWAN Telecom, UNITEC and TATA Tally Services. Subsequently, these
companies sold the spectrum at much higher rate to Etisalat, Telenor and DoCoMo.
The Central vigilance commission asked CBI to investigate the matter. On
14th November, A Raja resigned as telecom minister and Kapil Sibal was appointed
as in charge of Telecom Ministry. CBI investigated the beneficiaries of 2G
Spectrum.
A Raja was in judicial custody of CBI for four days and later he was
sent to Tihar jail. In March 2011, Delhi high court set up a special court to
exclusively take cognizance of 2G cases. The CAG Report showed a loss of 1.76
lakh crore. In 2012, the Supreme Court cancelled all the spectrum licenses which
were allotted in 2007. On 21st December, 2017 the special court acquits A Raja,
Kani mahi and all other accused from the case due to the lack of evidence.
The
CBI Judge OT Saini said that the prosecution has failed to prove any charge
against the accused. The congress government claimed that there was zero loss in
the 2G Spectrum case but in response Arun Jaitley stated that there were corrupt
and dishonest practices and that is why Supreme Court squashed all the spectrum
cases. The CAG Report whi8ch estimated the loss of 1.76 lakh Crore was way of
mark and loss was only 30985 crores.
Colgate Scam
India is always known to be a socialist state where the government has the power
to regulate various sectors like coal through five-year plan. This is the very
reason coal mining industry was nationalized by the Indian government between
1972 to 1976 with Coal India Ltd. and Singareni collieries company Ltd. in the
year 1976 coal mines (Nationalization) amendment Act was passed which terminates
the private leases of coal mining.
Thereafter, Parliament allowed certain
private companies to hold the lease as it was realized that public coal
companies were unable to fulfil the demand. Ministry of coal inn July 1992
directed the constitution of a screening committee whose purpose is to get the
proposals screened received from the private companies for captive mining.
Initially a total of 216 coal blocks were allocated by the government to various
companies from the year 1993 to 2010 and subsequently the number was reduced to
194. Screening committee gave the first preference to power and steel companies
but if a competitive applicant came across then he is required to fulfil the
additional guidelines the following are as follows:
- Production capacity to be stated in application
- Net worth of the applicant company
- Track record and financial strength of the company
- Recommendations of state and administrative authority concerned
The “
Colgate Scam” came into limelight in the year 2012 and was conjured by UPA
government. India contains many coal deposits which come under the control of
government and its excretion is further awarded to several public and private
companies by the process of auction. The Auditor Comptroller and General of
India accused the UPA government for being allocating the coal blocks without
any auction to private companies.
It was also said that the government policies
for allocation was not transparent. The loss initially estimated by CAG was 10.6
lakh crore but the actual loss turned out in the Parliament report was 1.86 lakh
crore. CBI started investigation on the corruption of allocation of coal blocks
on the basis of complaint filed by the Bhartiya Janta Party. On April 2015 CBI
lodged fourteen cases involving different individuals and firms like Naveen
Jindal and its company JSPL, AMR Iron and steel Pvt. Ltd., Rajend Darda and
Vijay Darda (congress M.P), Madhu Coda former Jharkhand C.M.
As a consequence
of scam an Inter-Ministerial panel was constituted in the year 2012 by the coal
ministry. The purpose of such panel was either to De-allocate the coal blocks
which were wrongfully allocated or to forfeiture of bank guarantees. Thereafter,
80 coal blocks were De-allocated and bank guarantees in 42 cases were forfeited.
A Special CBI Court was decided to be established by the Supreme Court where the
cases related to scam were to be tried on 24th September 2014 the allocation of
blocks was quashed and a bill was passed for the new auction in the Lok Sabha.
Special CBI Court held Madhukoda guilty of cheating and criminal conspiracy and
Dr. Manmohan Singh said that he will quit the office if he was found guilty.
Irregularities in the scam:
- Absence of mechanism end use of coal:
For distribution of coal to small and medium consumers a new coal distribution
policy 2007 was provided but there was no effective mechanism adopted by the
coal India Limited to monitor the coal supply by the state nominated agencies
and to verify end use of coal. Non-verification not only effects the
distribution of coal but also leads to black marketing of coal.
- Washing of coal
There is high percentage of ash in the coal produced in India in relation to
other major coal producing countries. The need for washing coal become necessary
for consistent fuel supply to coking coal and non-coking coal sectors. The
washeries available with the coal India limited were not sufficient to meet need
the need of washing.
Therefore, to overcome this issue it was decided by the CIL
to set up 2 coal washeries 7 for coking sector and 13 for non-coking sector. The
process for production of washed coal by CIL was still under process till 2012
and the reason for delay as given by the Ministry of coal was the clearance by
forest and environment department.
- Reliance on heat:
A plant with capacity with 4000 MW was developed by reliance power under
ultra-mega power project at Sasan in MP. In 2006 two captive coal blocks that is
mohar and mohar ahmohri were allotted to the project. Further in the same year a
third coal black that is chhatrasal was allotted to sasan plant to meet its
requirement of 16 million ton per year. The reliance was developing another
power project at chitrangi in MP for which a request was made to PM by chief
minister of MP to allow the reliance power to make use of surplus coal from the
captive blocks of the sasan. The matter was then forwarded to empowered group of
ministers which gave its approval on CM Request.
The CAG said that surplus use of coal will make Anil Ambani to drive some extra
benefit of 29033 crore. The plants set up at chitrangi charged higher tariff of
rupees 2.45 – 3.702 in comparison with tariff charge with sasan plant. Though
both the plant would get the coal at the same price. CBI Director Ranjit Sinha
stated in the Supreme Court in an Affidavit that the status report prepared by
the investigating agencies were shared with law minister Ashwani Kumar before
presenting it to the court. Ranjit claim was contradictory with the CBI council
claim that the report was not share with any member of government. CBI on
29thApril stated that 20% of the status report was changed by the government.
Justice R.M Lodha, Madan B Lakur and Kurian joseph directed the CBI to report
the court regarding changes made in the report.
- Satyam Scam
The Satyam scam took place in the year 2009 by Ramalinga Raju chairman of Satyam
computer services with 10 other members astonished the investors and
shareholders. They confessed that they had inflated the company's revenue,
falsified the company's account and income tax return and fabricated the
invoices involving a fraud of 1.47 billion U.S $. Hyderabad court imprisoned the
accused for seven years.
On 13 April 2008 Mahindra and Mahindra purchased 46% of
stake of Satyam computer by a public auction. As a result, greater need for
securing laws and corporate governance was indispensable for corporate entities.
It was the fourth largest IT Company of India and was awarded with Golden
Peacock award in the year 2007 and 2009. The name of the company itself suggests
truth but it had brought the biggest shame to India by committing fraud.
Mr. Raju disclosed to the Board of directors that the accounts of the company
had been manipulated for several years by 8nderstating the liabilities and
showing inflated income. On October 17, 2009 75% of quarterly revenue and 97% of
profit were overstated. It was found that Mr. Raju generated 6000 fake salary
accounts over the years and appropriated the money after deposited it.
Irregularities in the scam
Raju had a 35% stake at Mytas properties. Satyam computers planned to acquire
51% stake at Mytas. The board approved on 16 December 2008 the proposal for
buying stake in Mytas Infrastructure and Mytas properties owned by family
members of Ramalinga Raju, for Rs. 1.6 billion as fully owned subsidiary. The
proposal was passed without the approval of shareholders and the decision was
reversed after 12 hours when the shares of the company were sold by the
shareholders and threatened to proceed against the company.
Due to non-ability
of paying staff and for not providing information on invoices Satyam computers
was banned by World Bank for eight years. All these things led the four
independent directors to quit the board, further SEBI also asked the promoters
to disclose its pledge shares. After a while DSP Merrill Lynch terminated the
contract with company after discovering irregularities in company's account
book.
As confessed by chairman Raju balance sheet on September 30, 2008 contains
following figures:
- Accrued interest 376 crore (non-existent)
- 5040 crores of non-existent cash
- 5361 bank balance
- Liability worth 1230 crore was not disclosed.
- Debtors were overstated by 490 crores.
- Operating margins was stated at 649 crores as against actual 61 crore.
Satyam used to create fictitious sources of income like fake debtors and income
accounts without any external auditor knowledge. The company paid their auditors
PWC twice the money paid by the other company. The questions regarding
conspiracy to fraud were raised as PWC was paid 37.3 million for financial year
2007-2008. PWC license was revoked as the audit fees was increased by 5.7 times,
total income increased by 2.47 times and auditors were given monetary incentive
for hiding fraud.
Creation of fake companies
Rama Linga Raju had created a web of 356 investment companies for the diversion
of funds. Fake companies took 6000 acres of land and loan of 1230 crore from
these companies which were not even accounted in the books. In investigation it
was found that 7 non-existent companies were given several projects by Satyam
Computers. One of these companies received unsecured load of 600 crore by making
the investment of 90.25 crore.
Creation of fake fixed deposit
On 30th September 2008, the actual FD was 10 crores while in the accounts it was
shown at a massive amount of 3300 crore to auditors. Purpose of creation of fake
FD's was to create illusion of fake profit margin which ultimately led to pay
cash balance.
Showing fake employees
One of the major factors contributing to misappropriation was showcasing
increased number of employees. As claimed by Raju the number of employees on pay
roll was 53000 but according to investigators the real number was 43000. Money
paid to fake employees was around 4 million per month which was diverted to
Raju's family for the purpose of purchasing thousands of acres of land.
Insider trading
According to investigation agencies the promoters were indulge into insider
trading. SFIO reported that family members and promoters of Satyam sold shares
of rupees 3029.67 crores. Raju also sold 98 lakhs share worth 773.42 crore and
his brother sold 1.1 crore shares amounting to rupees 894.32 crore. All these
persons were found guilty of manipulating prices in share prices as insider
trading and also, they were asked by the SEBI to deposit unlawful gain of 1850
crore along with the interest of 12% interest. They were also prohibited to deal
in security markets for next 14 years.
Conspiracy with non-executive directors
The non-executive directors were given share at a throw away price of 2 rupees
per share. On top that they were earning unreasonably high commission as
discovered by audit report. The reasons for extra benefit to directors was that
they would show no resistance to the scandal
Fake invoices
The Excel porting system of Satyam created fake invoices to show inflated sales
and thus high profit. The system generated 74625 invoices from April 2003 to
December 2008 and sales were inflated by 18% every quarter.
Director's holding
The accounts of Satyam Company over the years showed that the directors have
reduced their holding from 25.65 TO 8.74% FROM March 2001 to March 2008. Mr.
Raju made a last attempt to survive by trying to acquire Mytas but when he
couldn't do so, he gave up and confess his fraud. The reason he confessed was
that, it is easy to show fudging revenue but it is difficult to show fake
expenditure and over the years the gap between actual profit and book profit
widened.
Mr. S Gopal Kriahna and Shree Niwas Talluri were charged with fraud and criminal
conspiracy. After discovery of fraud Satyam shares fell from 544rupees to 11.5
rupees. In international stock market Satyam shares fell from 29.10 dollar to
1.8 dollar. Criminal charges of breach of trust, forgery, and criminal
conspiracy were brought against Mr. Raju. Indian government also took part into
investigation of Satyam case but at the same time limiting its interference in
order to not look as conspirators.
New board members were appointed having
target of selling company in 100 days. Board hired Goldmen Sachs and Avendus
capital to make the sale of the company. At the time of sale of the company
various IT Companies participated in the bid on 13th April 2009 and finally tech
Mahindra took over the company at 1.13 dollar per share. Whole auction process
took place under the supervision of Justice Bharucha.
The Fodder's Scam
(
Dr. Jagannath Mishra, Lalu Prasad v. State of Bihar (1) BLJR 347, 1998)
The scam popularly known as charakhotala involves the embezzlement of rupees 9.5
billion from State treasury of Bihar for fodder medicines and husbandry supplies
for non-existence livestock. In the scam two main political personalities were
involved. One of them was CM of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav and the other was Former
CM Jagannath Mishra. The scam in its initial stage is involved of some
government employees but magnified over time to such an extent that it had also
the involvement of people at ministry level.
In 1985 the CAG of India T.N
Chaturvedi gave a notice to CM of Bihar Chandarshakher Singh because of delayed
monthly account submission. The notice was served as a warning but the same was
ignored. In 1992 a police officer Bidhu Bhushan Drivedi informed the director
general of anti-corruption vigilance unit regarding the scam and the person
involved. Bidhu was transformed from his post and later on suspended. He was
reinstated by the order of Jharkhand High Court after he gave his testimony as
witness.
Amit Khare the Deputy Commissioner of west Singhbhum Diatrict raided on
27th January, 1996 in the offices of animal husbandry in the town of chaibasa.
Several documents were seized and it was found that the State involves the
large-scale embezzlement for the discovery of irregularities, it was ordered by
Laloo Prasad Yadav to constitute a committee. The demand was raised to transfer
the case to CBI as there was fear that State Administration and police will not
investigate the matter properly.
A PIL was filed and the case was ordered to be
transferred to CBI by Bihar Court in 1996. Soon after CBI started investigated
the scam and it was stated that documents were block by politicians – official
business mafia involving some legislatures also. The legislatures against whom
the acquisition was made brought a privilege motion to take possible actions
against CBI officials.
Later CBI officials tendered their apology and the motion
was dropped. CBI continues the investigation and on 10th may, 1997 a formal
request was made to Governor for the permission to proceed against Lalu Prasad
Yadav.
Harish Khandelwal one of the accused found dead on the same day on railway track
and a note was found near his body in which it was stated that he was coerced by
the CBI to turn witness for prosecution. CBI rejected the charge and kept the
appeal in place. A.R Kidwai who was governor at that time stated that he would
need strong evidence against Lalu Prasad before proceeding further.
On June 17,
the permission was granted by the governor to prosecute Lalu and others involved
in scam. Four IAS officers and one government official were taken to judicial
custody. CBI prepared a charge sheet to be filled in special court and a raid on
21 June was conducted at Laloo Prasad residence because there was suspicion that
the evidence against him might be tempered or destroyed. Charge sheet was filed
on 23 June.
The approval for anticipatory bail was granted on the request made
by Jagganath Mishra but Laloo's request was denied and he was taken to jail. It
was clear that Laloo would be engulfed in the scam and he know that he would be
removed from chiefministership as the voices against him were raised both within
and outside the party. Finally, Laloo on 5 July parted with Janta Dal and formed
his own party Radhtriya Janta Dal and install his wife Rabri Devi as new chief
Minister.
Conclusion
In the end I would like to conclude that “where there is will there is a way”.
If every citizen of the country keeps strong will towards resisting corruption
there is no doubt that this evil can be eradicated from the roots. The most
prominent reason for corruption is cited to be the ignorance of citizens towards
the said act. Research states other major factor that contributes to such crime
is the no knowledge of anti-corruption law. In India illiteracy is so widespread
that people are not aware about their basic rights and necessary laws in place
for their benefit.
Imposing harsh and deterrent punishment is a way which could
lend us out of corruption. Our former President APJ Abdul Kalam sated that every
child of the country should take oath on their parent to speak the truth and be
honest. This possible way helps not only individuals but the entire nation to
contribute towards eradication of termite known to be corruption.
References:
- https://www.clatgyan.com/clat-general-knowledge/coalgate-scam/
- https://cag.gov.in/sites/default/files/audit_report_files/Union_Performance_Civil_Allocation_2G_Spectrum_19_2010.pdf
- https://cag.gov.in/content/report-no-6-2011-%E2%80%93-performance-audit-xixth-commonwealth-games
- https://www.slideshare.net/NISHA104/common-wealth-games-scam
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282331448_Corporate_Accounting_Fraud_A_Case_Study_of_Satyam_Computers_Limited
- https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-589e1dfc-1a92-47b7-87d5-d5221881fe14/c/2_Bhasin.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjw-MiGw_LoAhUDfX0KHTb4DwAQFjACegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw10sbf8AXkFHCoaC1bjqDhm
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316170814_Corporate_Scams
- http://m.indiatoday.in/gallery/coal-scam-how-india-lost-rs-1.86-lakh-crores/1/7610.html
- http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu.
- https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/explained-what-is-the-coal-scam-all-about-in-which-madhu-koda-is-held-guilty-1106352-2017-12-13
- https://www.slideshare.net/poojachakraborty17/coal-gate
- https://vigeyegpms.in/cvc/?module=public&action=audit_report
- https://yourstory.com/2017/12/8-scams-india
- https://www.slideshare.net/NISHA104/common-wealth-games-scam
- https://www.slideshare.net/poojachakraborty17/coal-gate
- https://www.clatgyan.com/clat-general-knowledge/coalgate-scam/
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