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The Delhi High Court has held that the profits earned on bribe money after investment in share market would constitute as proceeds of crime and amounts to offence of money laundering. Appreciation in value does not cleanse or purify the tainted origin, since the augmented value is inextricably and indirectly derived from the original illicit source of bribe, the court said. The offence of money laundering being continuing in nature is not confined only to the initial act of criminal acquisition but also extends to every process or activity connected with the proceeds, including layering through multiple transactions, integration into the legitimate economy and projection of the acquired wealth as lawful, a bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar said in a November 3 judgment. Giving an example, the bench said if a public servant receives a bribe, which constitutes an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and thereafter invests the sum in narcotics
The Odisha government on Tuesday placed IAS officer Dhiman Chakma under suspension, a day after he was sent to jail for allegedly taking bribe from a businessman, officials said. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has ordered suspension of Shri Dhiman Chakma, Sub Collector, Dharamgarh with immediate effect, an official release said. Chakma, a 2021-batch IAS officer, was on Sunday caught by sleuths of the vigilance department while allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from the businessman at Dharmagarah in Kalahandi district. It is further ordered that during the period of suspension, the headquarters of Shri Chakma is fixed at the GA&PG Department, Government of Odisha, Bhubaneswar, and he shall not leave the said headquarters without prior permission, a notification issued by the General Administration Department said. He was arrested on Monday, and produced before a court, which rejected his bail petition. Chakma was sent to jail at Dharmagarh, but later shifted to a hospital .
Around 66 per cent of business firms surveyed across 159 districts admitted that they paid bribes in the last 12 months, a report by online platform LocalCricles said on Sunday. The survey, which received 18,000 responses, found that 54 per cent were forced to pay bribes while 46 per cent paid voluntarily to expedite the process. "As many businesses would vouch anonymously, bribes remain a way of life when wanting to get government departments to speed up the permit or compliance process, even getting duplicate copy of the authority license or anything to do with property matters. 66 per cent of businesses surveyed paid a bribe in the last 12 months," the report said. Only 16 per cent of businesses surveyed claimed that they always managed to get work done without paying a bribe and 19 per cent said they "did not have a need" to do so. "Of businesses that paid bribes in the last 12 months, 54 per cent were forced to do so, while 46 per cent paid it for timely processing. This kind
A special CBI court has acquitted a deputy manager of the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) arrested by the CBI four years ago over accusations of taking bribe to book stall space during a fest, noting that the agency failed to prove "acceptance of bribe". The CBI alleged that ITPO deputy manager Akshay Singh counted the phenolphthalein-treated notes received during its trap operation. During the raid, Singh's hands were washed in a solution of sodium carbonate and water which turned pink, indicating that he had touched the notes. This had resulted in his arrest. The defence clinched the acquittal by citing the transcript of a conversation recorded clandestinely by the CBI between Singh and the complainant which showed that both had shared a 'beedi' and were "mingling" with each other on the day the trap took place. Singh was arrested in February 17, 2020 for allegedly manipulating allocation of stall shops at the Aahar Fest scheduled in March that year. The defence lawye
The CBI has arrested NHAI general manager Purushottam Lal Choudhary, posted in Madhya Pradesh's Chattarpur, in a Rs 10-lakh bribery case, officials said on Sunday. The six other other accused in the case, including an NHAI consultant Sharad Verma and his resident engineer Prem Kumar Sinha, and four employees of accused company PNC Infratech -- Satyanarayana Anguluri, Brijesh Mishra, Anil Jain and Shubham Jain --, were arrested on Saturday evening, they said. The accused were receiving bribes for the final handing over as well as the issuance of a no objection certificate and processing of the final bill of the Jhansi-Khajuraho Project awarded to the company by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The CBI had booked 10 suspects in the case, including the seven arrested accused, in the FIR. It is alleged that Yogesh Jain and T R Rao, directors of PNC Infratech Limited, were paying bribes to NHAI officials for obtaining favours. The CBI received information that they were
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Maharashtra Police has registered an offence against officials of IT major Cognizant Technologies, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and unknown government officials in an alleged USD 7,70,00 bribery case. On April 19, the sessions court here had directed the ACB to investigate allegations against Cognizant Technologies that it paid a bribe through its construction contractor (L&T) to local government officials to secure necessary permits and environmental clearances for its campus at Hinjawadi on the city's outskirts between 2013 and 2014. The offence was registered against officials of Cognizant Technologies; Manikandan Rammurthy, former vice president (administration and real estate officer, Cognizant, India), then officials of L&T, and unknown government officials who had accepted the bribe under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the ACB said in a release. The court had passed the order on April 19 on a complaint filed by Delhi-based ...
The CBI has arrested four people, including two joint director-ranked officers posted in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and an associate of Alok Industries, in connection with alleged bribery of Rs 3 lakh, officials said on Saturday. "Searches were conducted in Delhi, Gurugram and Chennai in the premises of the accused which led to the recovery of cash of Rs 59.80 lakh (approximately), several incriminating documents and digital evidences," the CBI said in a statement. Those arrested were Joint Directors Manjit Singh and Puneet Duggal, Senior Technical Assistant Ruhi Arora, all posted in the offices of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and Alok Industries associate Reshabh Raizada, officials said. Singh and Arora are posted in the office of the Director General of Corporate Affairs, while Duggal is posted as official liquidator in Chennai. The agency had booked them on Friday for allegedly indulging in corrupt and illegal activities and, in pursuance of a conspiracy, taking bri