Rs 1,000-cr BSNL case: HC asks CBI to file enquiry report on Aug 9

The Delhi High Court asked the CBI on Friday to place before it the preliminary enquiry report regarding the allegation that some BSNL officials caused a loss of about Rs 1,000 crore to the exchequer by releasing unauthorised payments to a subsidiary of a Chinese firm by fabricating documents.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar directed the Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) to produce the report on August 9, the next date of hearing in the matter.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by NGO Telecom Watchdog, which has claimed that it is a huge case of corruption involving about Rs 1,000 crore.

The NGO, represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan in court, has alleged that officials of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) had connived with M/s ZTE Telecom India Pvt Ltd, a Chinese contractor, and forged official records of BSNL so that "undue payments" of about Rs 1,000 crore could be released to the firm.

BSNL has refuted the allegations.

During the brief arguments on Friday, the CBI told the court that the preliminary enquiry into the allegations was completed and it was pending before senior officers of the agency for their signatures.

It also told the court that it had filed two reports regarding the enquiry in sealed covers in January and May.

However, the bench found only the report of January and asked the agency to place both reports before it on August 9.

The agency had, in July last year, told the court that the preliminary enquiry was over and the investigating officer was yet to submit his findings to his superiors.