CBI closes corruption case against IIT-Goa director, says no evidence found

The CBI has closed the case of alleged corruption against IIT-Goa director B K Mishra nearly after two years as no evidence of amassing disproportionate assets to known sources of income surfaced against him during the investigation, according to a report by the agency.

After conducting a probe which looked into all aspects of the case, the agency filed its closure report in the Special CBI Court, Bhubaneswar. The report was accepted by Judge G C Behera with the instructions to return the material collected during the investigation.

"That, the facts and circumstances of investigation could not establish possession of substantial disproportionate assets by accused Barada Kanta Mishra, the then Director, Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT), Bhubaneswar, (Odisha) (presently Director of Indian Institute of Technology, Goa), during the check period, beyond all reasonable doubts," the closure report filed by the CBI said.

The professor, however, said he does not have any thing against the agency which registered an FIR based on inputs from "reliable sources", but did agree that the media coverage on the case harmed his reputation.

Mishra answered all questions of the CBI and provided it all necessary financial details which were well reflected in his Income Tax returns over the years to justify all the assets.

"The CBI did its job professionally. They did not file charge sheet and closed the case as no evidence could be found against me," Mishra told PTI via SMS.

Based on "source information", the CBI had proceeded to file a case against Mishra in June 2017 for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets worth Rs 2.15 crore during a 10-year period between 2006 and 2016.

The agency had claimed that Mishra and his wife had assets worth Rs 3.79 lakh when he joined IMMT, Bhubaneswar in 2005.

After the FIR was registered against him in June 2017, Mishra had strongly refuted the allegations while talking to PTI.

He said according to the FIR, he and his wife had movable and immovable assets to the tune of Rs 3.79 lakh in 2005 at the time of joining IMMT Bhubaneswar.

Mishra said he joined IIT-Kanpur in 1993 after spending almost a decade in the US and continued there till December 2005.

"So it just cannot be true that in 2005, I had Rs 3.79 lakh worth of property," he had said.

Mishra said he had a small flat in Mumbai, which he purchased by taking a housing loan from IIT-Kanpur, and two plots in Bhubaneswar prior to joining IMMT.

The director said he also had other assets like car and furniture which shows that he was financially well off as both he and his wife worked in the US (full time).