IFFI scam: CBI to file charge sheet in two months

The CBI, probing an alleged scam related to expenditure on infrastructure development for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2004, today said it is in the final phase of the investigation and the charge sheet in the case would be filed in next two months.

"We are filing charge sheet in the case very soon. Within a month or two...We are in the final phase of the investigation," CBI joint director Rishiraj Singh said.

CBI had quizzed former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar in the financial misappropriation case, triggering angry reactions from BJP which demanded that Chief Minister Digamber Kamat, who was also part of the core committee, should also be investigated.

Singh said he is not in a position to tell at this juncture whether Kamat will also be quizzed or not in the case. "Whatever will be unfolded, I can't tell you," he said. CBI is investigating 22 allegations in this particular case and each one is being examined independently.

Singh said the case took time for investigation as initially it was handed over to CBI's Mumbai branch and later transferred to the local unit. Parrikar, then chief minister, had created infrastructure for holding IFFI when it was shifted from Delhi to Goa.

The CBI complaint followed a FIR filed by Congress legislator Mauvin Godinho accusing Parrikar of financial misappropriation while creating the infrastructure, which includes a multiplex complex where the IFFI is hosted.

The Congress party had also formed an internal committee headed by Shantaram Naik, which had cited several irregularities in the infrastructure creation.