Railways Scam: Court orders framing of charges against 10 accused

A special court here has ordered framing of charges against former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla and nine others for their alleged roles in the Rs 10 crore cash-for-post railway bribery case.

Bansal, who had to resign from his post after the case had came into light, has been arrayed as a prosecution witness by the CBI.

Special CBI judge Swarana Kanta Sharma ordered framing of charges under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against all the accused, including the then Member (Staff) of Railway Board Mahesh Kumar.

The court, in its order, said that corruption in India 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' 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 up for trial," the judge said, adding, "The present case in hand reveals a novel way of payment of bribe to achieve one's aim."

The court, which fixed the case for March 11 for formally framing charges against the accused, also observed that prima facie there was enough evidence to proceed with the trial in the case against the accused.

CBI had filed charge sheet on May 2 last year against 10 accused -- Kumar, Singla, Managing Director of Bangalore-based G G Tronics India Pvt Limited N R Manjunath, middlemen Ajay Garg and Sandeep Goyal, Rahul Yadav, Sameer Sandhir, Sushil Daga, C V Venugopal and M V Murali Krishan.

The probe agency had alleged that Singla had demanded Rs 10 crore from Kumar for his appointment to the post of Member (Electrical) and it was decided between the accused that Rs 5 crore will be paid before the appointment and the rest will be paid after the job was done.

It had claimed that first tranche of around Rs 90 lakh was given to Singla who was apprehended while accepting the money.