MES officers held in bribe case

Four naval MES officers held in bribe case date: 22/10/2012
The CBI on Thursday evening arrested four officers of the Military Engineering Services (MES), Navy, Lonavla for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from a contractor for passing his bills.
The arrested officers are garrison engineer Joy Thomas, assistant garrison engineers A K Khan and K Saravanan, and junior engineer (civil) Ravi Paul.
According to the CBI, contractor Kuldeep Jain from Market Yard was awarded two contracts, totally worth Rs 2 crore, for construction work at the navy’s training institute INS Shivaji in Lonavla.
Jain received running bills of Rs 72 lakh for one contract on October 10, and Rs 13 lakh for the other contract on October 12. However, the officers had allegedly demanded a bribe to pass the other bills, for the work was still going on.
Jain lodged a complaint with the CBI’s anti-corruption bureau on Wednesday. The CBI laid a trap in the office of Joy Thomas on Thursday and caught the suspects red-handed. The investigation agency seized Rs 1.5 lakh from Thomas and Rs 1 lakh from his cupboard, Rs 1 lakh from Khan, Rs 50,000 from Saravanan and Rs 1 lakh, which was meant for Paul, from the car of Saravanan.
On Friday, inspector D K Bali produced the suspects before special court judge D R Mahajan. Seeking five days’ CBI custody for the suspects, special public prosecutors Vivek Saxena and Ayub Pathan told the court that custodial interrogation of the suspects was essential to investigate their individual roles in the case. They also said that the CBI needed time to investigate the role of the suspects in connection with dealing of files and passing bills at various levels.
The court sent the suspects to CBI custody till October 22, 2012
-via The Times of India.
MES officers held in bribe case

Tatra Scam: Will Tejinder Singh influence the Law Ministry?

CBI to file chargesheet against Rishi
Neeraj Chauhan, TNN Oct 5, 2012, 03.40AM IST
NEW DELHI: The CBI will file a chargesheet against Ravi Rishi and others in the Tatra scam and finalize the enquiry into the alleged bribe offer to former Army chief General V K Singh within few weeks.
According to sources, investigation into the Tatra scam is over and the agency is awaiting the reply of the legal department on a recent presentation given by former BEML chief V R S Natarajan, who had claimed that it was a licence agreement and not transfer of technology.
About the alleged bribery offer to V K Singh by Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh, CBI sources said they were taking legal opinion on the evidence collected to establish a link between Tejinder and Ravi Rishi. "We will decide whether to convert the preliminary enquiry into a regular case or not very soon," said an official. Officials said they would file a charge sheet without replies from Czech Republic and Slovakia.
CBI to file chargesheet against Rishi
Comment: Will the 3 scamsters and Conmen- Rishi, Tejinder and Natarajan be ever convicted? This is likely to take the Bofors route of intrigue- the no conviction route!

Good Governance: MP's and Gandhi Jayanthi

The worst thing about indian Judiciary and politicians is that corrupt MP's are never ever convicted and their cases never end. Shame on Indian Parliamentarians who try to sabotage honest uprising against their corrupt deeds.
The criminalization of politics continues to be a very big concern, with an increase in the number of MPs with criminal records from 128 to 150. Even the number of MPs with serious criminal cases has gone up. The biggest reason for this seems to be the undemocratic and autocratic selection and nomination of candidates by political parties. In order to ensure the winnability of candidates, parties ignored honesty to give preference to muscle power and money power. As media reports seem to indicate, the misuse of monetary incentives to buy votes has increased sharply since last elections and continues to be a source of threat to real democracy. While voter awareness on this issue is very high, the problem is that those who win after spending huge amounts are unlikely to focus on good governance. They are more likely to focus on recovering the funds they spent and on giving favours to those who supported their campaigns.
For more details: Indian MP's with Criminal Offences - A list

Mystery: BEML, Tatra Sipox and Venus Projects payments routed to tax haven

BEML payments to UK Tatra Sipox for deal routed to Rishi's Hong Kong firm
Josy Joseph, TNN Aug 11, 2012, 02.48AM IST
NEW DELHI: Investigators are bewildered by the strange financial relations between Tatra Sipox UK, the British company that had been supplying Tatra trucks to BEML, and another company in Hong Kong controlled by the controversial NRI businessman Ravi Rishi.
The CBI is investigating irregularities in the purchase of all-terrain Tatra trucks by defence public sector unit BEML for the Indian military. Allegations of irregularities in the deal were sent to CBI for investigation by defence minister A K Antony earlier this year, but it hit headlines after former Army chief General V K Singh claimed that he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore to approve purchase of a new batch of Tatra trucks.
Rishi, who controls Tatra Sipox UK and is the prime accused in the CBI FIR into the Tatra scandal, recently moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to travel abroad. CBI has opposed the demand.
What brings a mysterious twist to the Tatra scandal is the relation between Tatra Sipox UK and Venus Projects Ltd of Hong Kong. Venus is controlled from the secretive tax haven of Liechtenstein.
Investigators have been given details by banks and others concerned to establish that every time Tatra Sipox received a payment from BEML, the entire amount was immediately transferred to the account of Venus. In return, Venus gave Tatra Sipox just a 1% commission. "Tatra Sipox was just a transaction handling agency with no powers at all," a source said.
To make the entire transaction easy, both Tatra Sipox and Venus had their bank accounts with Canara Bank in London, and operated them in euro currency. In fact, on February 6, 2007, BEML agreed, for strange reasons, to change the procurement currency from dollar to euro, which led to significant loses to BEML over the next few years. Once BEML issued payments in euro, there was no currency conversion costs on either Tatra Sipox UK or Venus Projects.
With the fresh revelations that Tatra Sipox did not even have the right to decide on the payments received from BEML, the attention should shift to Hong Kong-based Venus Projects. According to documents of Venus Projects until 2011, all the shares of the company were held by Deswa Holding Establishment based in Liechtenstein.
By January 2012, Tatra Sipox was fully owned by Vectra Ltd, which in turn was also run by a trust in Liechtenstein.
BEML had signed a contract with Tatra Sipox in 1997 for a 10-year period for the supply of the all-terrain trucks and its parts. In 2003, four years before the contract expired, the PSU renewed its contract with Tatra Sipox to extend the "scope of working relationship", according to the CBI FIR into the case.
BEML is believed to have told the defence ministry that it was entering into a contract with a fully-owned subsidiary of Tatra AS, the Czech manufacturer of the all-terrain trucks. However, CBI is now convinced that Tatra Sipox UK had nothing to do with the original equipment manufacturers.
And with the latest revelations of Venus Projects being the real 'controlling authority', the Tatra contract has assumed more complex hues. Tatra Sipox emerged on the scene after the collapse of Czechoslovakia into Czech Republic and Slovakia. The company was incorporated in UK in 1994.
BEML payments to UK Tatra Sipox for deal routed to Rishi's Hong Kong firm
Related Reading

Black money case: Centre declines to make names public

Tracking Tatra: How are Chidambaram and Vayalar connected?

NDA job scam: CBI grills ex-commandant

NDA job scam: CBI grills ex-commandant for 10 hours
Pranav Kulkarni , SushantKulkarni : Pune, Tue Sep 18 2012, 00:52 hrs
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday grilled Lt Gen Jatinder Singh for 10 hours in connection with the alleged recruitment scam that had unseated him in July from the post of National Defence Academy (NDA) commandant.
Now attached to the Army Headquarters as a staffer to the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Singh arrived at the CBI office in Pune at 10 am in a Pune HQ Sub Area car and emerged at 8 pm through a backdoor in a bid to evade reporters. CBI sources said he will be called again at 10 am Tuesday.
Rajkumar Vahtkar, superintendent of the CBI-ACB, confirmed that Lt Gen Singh was questioned in connection with the case on Monday morning. He refused to divulge details.
The alleged scam involving recruitment of class ‘C’ employees had come to light in June last week. His staff officer Col Kulbir Singh and Physical Training Officer (PTO) Col A K Singh, besides a civilian staffer and five others who acted as “agents”, have already been questioned by the CBI and are currently out on bail.
Lt Gen Singh was shifted on July 4 after the CBI wrote to Defence Minister A K Antony, seeking his transfer to facilitate an “unbiased probe”.
The CBI had said they recovered Rs 1.76 crore of the alleged recruitment scam money, and that “trails are also being traced” of about Rs 4 lakh Lt Gen Singh’s staff officer Col Kulbir Singh is believed to have handed over to Lt Gen Singh’s brother in a five star hotel in Mumbai on June 23.
“Lt Gen Singh claimed Kulbir Singh had handed over money he had borrowed. Why would the amount be in cash, when his brother had paid him by cheque? Interestingly, we also seized 12 bottles of expensive whisky along with the Rs 4 lakh in cash,” said an officer.
A 7000 sq ft post-retirement bungalow Lt Gen Singh has been constructing at Ambala has also come under the scanner of the agency. The CBI is reportedly looking into various payments made for the house valued at approximately Rs 1 crore. “We are looking into modes of payment for the house. Our teams have carried out searches in Delhi and other places,” said a CBI officer.
Another officer said, “During questioning, we asked Singh about relations between him and his staff officer as well as PTO. He was cooperative during questioning though he opted not to answer many questions. We will be questioning him again on Tuesday.”
When The Indian Express team visited the CBI office in Akurdi, the car was parked outside. Lt Gen Singh was accompanied by his son-in-law, a doctor at the Military Hospital, Pune, and other relatives. Lt Gen Singh tried to evade the Express team. In fact, one of the persons who accompanied him sat in the car, while Lt Gen Singh opted to exit through a back door. One of the persons who accompanied him tried to prevent The Indian Express photographer from taking pictures.
NDA job scam: CBI grills ex-commandant for 10 hours

NDA Scam: Lt Gen Jatinder Singh to be grilled by CBI

Ex-NDA chief to be grilled in job scam
Rajshri Mehta, TNN | Sep 16, 2012, 01.33AM IST
MUMBAI: The CBI will question Lt Gen Jatinder Singh, former Commandant of the National Defence Academy, on September 17 in the recruitment scam.
According to an investigation, Rs 3-5 lakh was allegedly paid in bribe for C-grade posts of as C-grade staff like cooks, gardeners, clerks etc at NDA while Lt Gen Singh was the commandant there. The total bribe amount came close to Rs 1.76 crore. The accused allegedly took signatures of the candidates, who agreed to pay the bribe, on blank sheets and later filled them with correct answers, the investigation said.
The defence ministry granted the permission to quiz Singh after the CBI reportedly reportedly established a "money link", connecting Singh and his brother to the alleged scam. The CBI probe showed prime accused Col Kulbir Singh, also the staff officer to the Commandant, gave Rs 4 lakh in cash to Singh's brother during a meeting in a five-star hotel in Mumbai on June 23. After the CBI arrested six of NDA's employees, including Singh's staff officer, for allegedly taking bribe from candidates appearing for the subordinate jobs, Singh lieutenant general was earlier transferred out of NDA and attached to the Army Headquarters.
Singh declined to comment when contacted by TOI.
The CBI has already questioned Singh's brother who works in a leading corporate house. "He told us Singh took Rs 4 lakh from him which was returned by Kulbir Singh. The money was for building a home in Ambala. It's odd that Singh should take money from a staff officer to repay his brother and that too, in a five-star hotel. Singh took the money from his brother in cheque and paid it back in cash," said an agency official.
Singh will be asked to explain the source of funds for his under-construction 7,000 sq-ft bungalow in Ambala, worth over Rs 2 crore. The agency will ask Singh questions like his powers in approving and preventing any mischief in the recruitment process and action taken on complaints of malpractices in exams.
According to the probe, bribes of Rs 3-5 lakh were allegedly paid for jobs as C-grade staff like cooks, gardners, clerks at NDA while Singh was the commandant there.
Ex-NDA chief to be grilled in job scam
Comment: The commandant is obviously privy to the scam and author of the same. He was cultivating 5 Star Culture and VIP status in the Academy. He should go down in NDA history as a scamster. The law should catch up and confine him in his rightful quarters.

Adarsh Housing Society Scam- Know the facts

What is Adarsh Housing Society Scam?
The Adarsh Housing Society is a cooperative society in the city of Mumbai in India. Adarsh Housing Society in Colaba (Mumbai), was originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil war heroes and widows, got converted into a 31-storey and allotted to bureaucrats, top defence officers, a former environment minister and legislators.
The scandal over the allotment of flats in the Adarsh housing society in Mumbai, originally meant for families of Kargil war heroes, exposes the rank corruption that exists at the heart of our political system Questions were raised on the manner in which apartments in the building were allocated to bureaucrats, politicians and army personnel who had nothing to do with Kargil War.
How Much money involved in Adarsh Housing Society Scam?
The total value of the scam is not known yet. According to the market rate in the Colaba area in year 2010, an average two-to three-bedroom-hall-kitchen (BHK) flat in Adarsh society could cost between Rs 6 crore and Rs 8.5 crore. However, members of the society paid Rs 60-85 lakh for each flat.
When did Adarsh Housing Society Scam happen?
In 2010, the Indian media brought to public the alleged violations of rules at various phases of construction in the Adarsh Society.
Who are involved in Adarsh Housing Society Scam?
Players in this scam were bureaucrats, politicians. For a change it included men from the armed forces too.
Politicians Involved:

Ashok Chavan, Chief minister of Maharashtra: His relative Seema Vinod Sharma; mother in law Bhagwati Manoharlal Sharma; relative Madanlal Milkiram Sharma owns flats in Adarsh

Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, Congress Member of Legislature, Maharasthra: He along with his sons Kailash K Gidwani and Amit K Gidwani owns flats in Adarsh. Also a relative Kavita S Godbole owns a flat.

Jitendra S Awhad, Nationalist Congress Party Member of Laegislature, Maharashtra: Owns flat
Bureaucrats

Pradeep Vyas, Mumbai district collector: His wife Seema Vyas owns a flat

PV Deshmukh, Secretary in Urban Development department: Owns a flat
Armed Forces

Lieutenant General NC Vij, former Chief of Indian army staff

General Deepak Kapoor, Chief of Indian army staff
Whistleblowers/ Law enforcers

Medha Patkar

Media

RTI activists
Adarsh Scam: Know the facts
Comment: How did all these scamsters get interest free loans? This is height of India's benami, black money and money laundering route. Why are these scamsters still not booked? It looks these looters are seeking reprieve from Sonia Gandhi in the name of sullying the name of UPA- which is already in dumps (The Society is directly writing letters to UPA Chairperxon). Will Mr Shinde succumb to pressure tactics of Adarsh society members- who are really scumbags and have very powerful leverage in Raisna HILL? We need to watch out for the outcome... very demoralising episode for the Military Community!

NDA Recruitment Scam: Army Officers go high tech to spin money

Typing tests also held in Colonel’s office

Wednesday, July 04, 2012 AT 12:32 PM (IST)
PUNE: Col Anil Kumar Singh, presiding officer of exams, allegedly conducted typing tests of some candidates for appointment of civil employees in his office instead of the computer lab in the National Defence Academy (NDA), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted in its report to a special court on Tuesday.
The court has remanded Col Singh to CBI custody till July 7. He was arrested on Monday after his anticipatory bail application was rejected by the court. The CBI told the court that Col Singh was admitted to the state-run YCM Hospital in Pimpri after he complained of high blood pressure on Monday night. So he was interrogated only for two hours on Tuesday morning.
He was produced in the court of special judge (CBI) D R Mahajan in the afternoon for seeking a 14-day custody. "We want to interrogate him to find out why three or four candidates were given the typing test in his office and not in the computer lab. Also, who sent the candidates to him," Deputy Superintendent of Police (CBI) Rajpal Singh told the court.
"We want to recover the list of candidates, which was deleted from the official computer and was taken by Col Singh in his pen drive," he added. His interrogation is required for checking the over-writing in the answersheets of the candidates. Also, the amount of Rs 52 lakh in bribe amount, allegedly given to him by another accused Col Kulbir Singh, is yet to be recovered, Singh said.
CBI special public prosecutor Vivek Saxena told the court, "After taking permission from the Union Home Ministry, we taped their conversation between June 7 and June 18. They used code language during the conversations. We would like to confront Col A K Singh with the recorded conversation and get more details about the job-for-cash scam."
The CBI told the court that it has appealed to the NDA authorities to station a military doctor at the CBI office so that he could conduct a check-up on Col A K Singh for any health-related problems.
NO SATELLITE PHONE
Defence sources told "Sakal Times"that"officially the NDA does not have any satellite phone." The CBI claimed to have recorded about 500 conversations of Col A K Singh and other accused, who used to talk on satellite phones about the collection of bribe money from the aspiring candidates.
Typing tests also held in Colonel’s office
Comment: Criminal minded officers are being posted to the NDA which is a premier training institute. Just imagine a physically unfit Officer is posted as the Physical Training Officer to the Academy. On his arrest he reports sick. The MS needs to be sacked for posting such criminal minded Officers to the NDA and bringing shame to the institute and military at large. There is a case for investigating the MOD and MS if they are taking bribes for lucrative postings to NDA. The ACR nine pointer system is a disaster. All 9 pointers Officers postings need to be thoroughly investigated.

Looking back on the genesis of Adarsh Scam

A look at the Adarsh Land Scam and the Army’s involvement
Tuesday, November 30, 2010, 22:09
Archit Bhatnagar, II Semester student of Nalsar, gets you this write-up. Archit was the 14th ranker in last year’s CLAT so his word carries some weight around here. Thank him and pester him for more. Happy Reading!
Adarsh Housing society soaring over Mumbai’s skyline was conceived and planned as a six storey housing society in South Mumbai’s upscale Colaba area set up with the aim of “accommodating and rewarding the heroes of the Kargil operation and those who had laid down their lives for the protection of the motherland,”. The building was constructed on a 4- acre plot at a place where there used to be Khukri Park, inaugurated by Field Marshal Cariappa which was defence land.
‘Adarsh’ Group Housing Society is 31-storey high building built on a controversial piece of defence land as it violates many laws, is without clearances and NOCs (No Objection Certificates) occupied by corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and former top brass of the Army and Navy. If you look at the initial list of society members of the Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society, it comprised 40 members and included mostly defence personnel. At the moment the list stands at 103, out of which only 37 members belong to the army and just three members have anything to do with the Kargil war. Among the hall of shame whose kin are proxies for the ownership of the flats here are Ashok Chavan , Vilasrao Deshmkh and Sushilkumar Shinde and Narayan Rane all of whom have been the chief minister of Maharashtra and been at some stage the sanctioning authority for the project. Other ilLUSTrious owners include former army chiefs Gen. N.C Vij (during whose term the ‘Adarsh’ Society started the construction) and Gen. Deepak Kapoor both of whom ensured that there would be no objections from the army to the building despite it being a very sensitive location.
Was the actually ‘Adarsh’ building society built for a noble cause? (Well it continues to puzzle me – how was a soldier supposed to purchase a flat costing Rs 60 lakh whose yearly income was ` Rs 96,000. Or was the ‘kargil war heroes’ appeal intended just to obtain the necessary clearances and concession for a piece of land that otherwise would never have been sanctioned?
How did ‘Adarsh’ obtain the highly sensitive and highly priced land? The aforementioned land being defence land, Maharashtra Government Revenue Department issued an order in 2003, which stated that the government has decided to hand over this land occupied by the army to the housing society at a fixed government rate (even though it was not mentioned anywhere that the land was being transferred to the ‘Adarsh’). And well who was the revenue minister when the Adarsh Files were being processed and the land was allotted? And who was also the chief minister when the project got its final clearance by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)? Any guesses? ASHOK CHAVAN – the very same man who (on the recommendation of a committee comprising Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A.K. Antony) was forced to resign from his comfortable chief minister’s seat after unsuccessfully trying his best to deny his involvement.
Does it have all the clearances and NOC’s required? And how did it get the clearances that it did? Time and again there were requests made to the Army to withdraw the initial NOC given by the Defence Estates Officer to the Mumbai Collector for Developing Adarsh Housing Society, but the colluding army top brass ensured that the voices were subdued. Recent probes have revealed that the building never procured any clearances under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) of the environment ministry. In fact, CRZ clearances were not even obtained for the original proposed six-storeys. Also, it has been found that Adarsh Society flouted the fire safety norms including the presence of refuge area, which is a non-negotiable for high-rises. The Navy claims that Adarsh never obtained any clearance or NOC from it. Anybody who threatened to scuttle the project was allotted one of these priceless apartments. Media disclosures have shown that virtually every bureaucrat involved in the clearances got flats in the name of their kin. As the club of privileged flat owners of the Housing Society expanded, so did the size of the building and the list of big wigs involved. That accounts for how a modest six storey project became a mega condominium 31 stories high.
Why did the two preceding army chiefs maintain stoic silence on the sensitive nature of the Adarsh housing society which was built on the most important naval base in the western region of the country when the current army (Gen. V.K. Singh) and navy chiefs (Admiral Nirmal Verma) have clearly termed it as a ‘Security threat’? Very simple: “A flat for a nod!” How else did army officers whose monthly income even after the 6th Central Pay Commission did not exceed 90,000 manage to purchase flats worth 8-10 crores? When Gen. Deepak Kapoor applied for the Adarsh flat in 2005, the membership rules were clear: an applicant should have lived in Mumbai for 15 years. To get this waived, he wrote to then CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, who obliged him with a domicile certificate. His salary slip submitted with the application showed an income of only Rs. 23,450 per month while his actual income even according to the 5th pay commission exceeded ` 50,000!!
Shockingly, some of the persons involved claim that the entire episode is a frame up to tar the state’s political leadership. If promoters of Adarsh are to be believed, the scam is a creation of the media and there is nothing illegal about the building. In other words, they are daring the system to pin them down and prosecute them.
This speaks of a systemic breakdown. No system can endure when the custodians of institutional propriety themselves become the perpetrators of improprieties. The Indian armed forces today are tainted by the same malaise that has become so apparent in civil life.
A complicated enquiry is being conducted. The Ministry of Environment has served a show cause notice to Adarsh Housing society. If Adarsh fails to file a reply by the 3rd December, the process of demolition is likely to begin. The Central Government ordered an investigation by the CBI. The CBI is likely to question the ex-Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan in connection with Mumbai’s Adarsh Society scam next month.
One positive aspect of the Adarsh scam is the stand taken by the current Army chief, General V. K. Singh, who is clearly furious at the involvement of his predecessors. “I am extremely sad and as an institution we have taken a beating,” he admitted on national television. He is on record as having pledged to punish everybody involved no matter how high a position someone might have held.
General Singh has also ordered a probe into the status of all the land that the army holds. This promises to be a huge undertaking, the military being one of the country’s largest land owners with about 17.3 lakh acres under its control. Of this, the Army has the biggest share amounting to about 13.4 lakh acres. In the case of the Adarsh scam, wrongdoing will be investigated by the Army and those found transgressing legal limits will be punished.
Adarsh Land Scam and the Army’s involvement Comment: The Adarsh Scamsters are happy that Gen VK Singh has retired. Will the law take its course or will CBI and MHA scuttle the issue? Veterans need to keep a close watch on the next move of the scamsters.

Anna Hazare motivates the citizens towards a civilized nation

I will fight till the end: Highlights of Anna Hazare's speech
NDTV Correspondent | Updated: June 03, 2012 16:59 IST
New Delhi: Gandhian activist Anna Hazare and Yoga guru Baba Ramdev are holding a day-long fast in Delhi today as a mark of their protest against corruption and black money. Here are the highlights of what Anna Hazare said:
•The whole country is my family. We will fight the goondas in India.
•I do not ask anyone to emulate me.
•Sacrifices have to be made to achieve a great goal.
•I do not even know the names of my brother's children.
•We are talking of changing the country; that is not impossible.
•I will fight till the end (against corruption).
•Be part of a larger family, give a few hours to social service.
•Words will not suffice, Words have to match deeds.
•Development based on exploitation is not correct.
•If there are eight candidates and all of them are goondas, then voters should have the right to say we do not like any of them.
I will fight till the end: Highlights of Anna Hazare's speech

Powerful Arms Lobby Target Veterans especially those who have served in Int Agencies

Jeet- The Cloak And Dagger Operative
If one was in position to select, shortlist or influence the decision making process in equipment acquisition, tempting offers, of diverse kind, if not actual bribes were always there: sometimes direct at others subtle. Sadly tempting offers made3 by friends who are in employ of the interested parties. More amazingly by the colleagues and surprisingly, at times, by the same superiors whilst in service.
Even after retirement, my phone continued ringing incessantly, with juicy offers, from different individuals offering handsome salary (maximum permissible those days), house with a car at disposal. With me trying not to be rude, evasive in response, the callers, becoming desperate and more persistent by the day, with remarks such as ‘Your value is diminishing every day.’ Lodge an FIR! Easier said than done, one does not jump in the unknown just like that, what proof could be produced to support some fleeting remark, interspersed in a casual conversations, that transpired, in the office, on the staircase, in the car park or even during dinner at a friends place.
When even assertions made by the Chief of Army Staff can challenged and contested by the so called perpetrator, what chance a mere Brigadier would have stood and to what purpose. These things happen and will continue to do so. How to tackle the situation depends on the individuals: discipline inculcated during training and service, strength of character and moral courage, the value system inherited from the family background and more importantly the support from your wife.
With me under threats along with the offers, she would be looking back at the rear-view mirror, when were out driving, if some suspicious looking car was following us., no doubt quite thrilled in the process by becoming part of the Cloak and Dagger thrills and challenges.
Brig Lakshman Singh

Adarsh scamsters gang up to gun for Gen VK Singh

MoD bugging row: Tejinder Singh to move Delhi HC against Army chief General VK Singh
Continuing his fight against the outgoing Army chief General V.K. Singh, Lieutenant General (retired) Tejinder Singh would approach the Delhi High Court on May 28, sources said on Friday.
Tejinder claims to be in possession of a sting CD, which according to him would prove allegations he has made. He claims that the CD has evidence that off air interceptors were imported by the military intelligence.
He alleges that it was done at the direct instruction of the Army chief and the equipment was used to bug ministry of defence (MoD) officials and other government VIPs.
Tejinder further says the sting CD would prove that Rs.8 crore was spent on the instruction of the chief of Army staff (COAS) from the Army's secret fund for the purpose. He claimed he would substantiate his allegations with affidavits from two retired generals.
The retired officer would also demand an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into his allegations.
Tejinder had on Thursday suffered a setback after the Delhi High Court refused to direct the Centre to take back a press release of the Army alleging that he had offered a bribe to the Army chief in connection with a defence deal.
Prior to that, on May 10, Tejinder had to withdraw his case against Gen Singh from the Supreme Court wherein he had sought a CBI probe against the Army chief for alleging that he had offered bribe to him.
Read more at: Click here for the original post
Comment: Does Tejinder Singh has a Godfather in MHA for the sting CD? Is the Arms lobby paying the media?

Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag cons SFF

New Delhi: The Army Chief, already in a full-blown battle with the government, appears to have further aggravated the situation by asking the CBI to investigate corruption charges against a serving General, one who is second in line to replace him when he retires at the end of May.
General VK Singh wrote to the CBI, asking for an inquiry into allegations by a Member of Parliament from Bengal against Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag. The MP, Ambika Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress, had written nearly 10 months ago to General Singh, alleging corruption in the purchase of defence equipment on Lt General Suhag's watch when he (then a Major General) was in charge of the Special Frontier Force in Chakrata near Nanital. The Lt General is currently the head of the 3 Corps in Dimapur, Nagaland.
Army Chief asks for CBI inquiry against serving General
Factional feud rages again, Gen VK Singh issues show-cause notice to Lt Gen Suhag
SFF is under MHA
The Special Frontier Force (SFF) is a paramilitary unit of India. It was conceived in the post Sino-Indian war period as a guerrilla force composed mainly of Tibetan refugees whose main goal was to conduct covert operations behind Chinese lines in case of another war between the People's Republic of China and India. Based in Chakrata, Uttarakhand, SFF is also known as the Establishment 22. The force was put under the direct supervision of the Intelligence Bureau, and later, the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency. SFF right now of course it is under the MHA like NSG, SSB, CISF etc.
Under PC's spell and pandora box... corruption and money laundering is the game for purchase of equipment for the PMF's. His family member does all the arms shopping in East European Countries clandestinely of course... his travel manifests will tell the tale...

Babu shunted for leaking Army Chief's Top Secret Letter

Senior officer leaked army chief's letter to PM
May 13, 2012 21:58 IST
A joint secretary-rank officer in the Cabinet Secretariat has been found guilty of leaking Army Chief General V K Singh's letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [ Images ] about the poor state of preparedness of his force and has been shunted out.
A probe into the leakage by the Prime Minister's Office has also cleared General Singh of any wrongdoing in the episode, highly-placed sources said.
In his letter, the army chief had highlighted the critical shortage of equipment and ammunition in artillery and armoured regiments.
The female officer, belonging to the Indian Economic Service, was handling the charge of intelligence agencies under the Cabinet Secretariat and was nailed after interrogation of some suspected people.
The officer has now been repatriated to her parent cadre and further action can be taken against her for leaking such a sensitive document, sources said.
After the letter surfaced, both the Houses of Parliament were rocked over the issue and certain parties had demanded action against General Singh.
At that time, General Singh had said that incident should be treated as "high treason" and the source of leakage should be dealt with "ruthlessly."
"The leakage of the letter should be treated as high treason. Cynical approach to tarnish my reputation should stop. Sources of the leakage should be found and dealt with ruthlessly," General Singh had said in a statement issued by the army headquarters. Following the incident, the government had asked the Intelligence Bureau to investigate the matter and find out the person responsible for it.
The letter was leaked to the media after General Singh made a sensational disclosure in an interview that he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore by a retired lieutenant general for favouring a sub-standard defence deal regarding the purchase of army trucks.

Readers comments sample

apology by aam admi on May 14, 2012 12:15 AM those political leaders, who abused and blamed the General for leaking the letter to Media, should apologise to General VK Singh, if they have left any grace in their behaviour, they should not shout and abuse people of the society in Parliament as and when they wish.This is disgraceful on their part.

by Raghvendra Singhon May 13, 2012 10:37 PM
Time and again it has come to light that General VK Singh has been correct in all his statements and actions. Yet every time there has been biased reporting against him, asking for his head. He has not been allowed to serve for an additional year as is rightfully his due, history will forever remember this. It is a National loss, but he will do his bit for the country in whatever direction Destiny will take him.
Senior officer leaked army chief's letter to PM
Babu shunted for 'leaking' army chief's letter
Army chief letter leak: Cabinet Secretariat officer found guilty
Government's Denial Drama and Dilemma
It's very understandable why the Prime Minister's office and the government is hurriedly issuing a denial because it gives a clean chit to the Army Chief but raises some alarming questions on the government's role behind this Army Chief controversy, and with the Opposition bound to corner the government once again on this, one can understand why the Prime Minister's office wants to step in and issue a denial.
Read More: Click here for the original post
Comment: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is correct when he said "After 60 years we are not a perfect Democracy". What he missed out was that we are fast graduating into a Banana Republic. The treatment meted out to a Patriotic Gen VK Singh by the Government speaks volumes of its gradual graduation!

CBI speeds up at snail's pace: Will it house Adarsh and track Tatra?

Legal advisor to DGP figures in Adarsh scam
The CBI has asked the state Director General of Police to probe the role of his legal advisor into a money laundering scam after his name figured during interrogation of suspects arrested in a bribery case involving former MLC Kanhaiyyalal Gidwani.
The Anti-Corruption wing of CBI in Mumbai has dashed a letter to state DGP K Subramaniam asking him to probe into complicity and involvement of legal advisor M P Lalwani into the offence of money laundering exposed following the arrest of Gidwani and tax consultant J K Jagiasi in March this year.
While sources in CBI confirmed that a letter has been sent to the state police headquarters, DGP K Subramaniam told Mirror that he was yet to receive any such communication from CBI.
On March 6, the CBI Anti-Corruption Wing had arrested Kanhaiyyalal Gidwani, his son Kailash, tax consultant J K Jagiasi and CBI counsel Mandar Goswami on the charge that Jagiasi was attempting to bribe the CBI counsel on Gidwani’s behalf to tip off in case the CBI contemplated any action in the Adarsh scam.
During Jagiasi’s interrogation, CBI seized some documents which showed that Jagiasi had allegedly received Rs 10 lakh from Lalwani in cash, and subsequently the money was deposited in Lalwani’s wife’s bank account in parts by cheque. CBI suspects the exchange of money could be part of a money laundering racket scam involving Jagiasi and which led to his arrest.
Jagiasi, during interrogation, is alleged to have admitted that he received the sum from Lalwani, but did not provide any further details about the reason why the money was deposited. “We have written to the state police headquarters to probe the role of Lalwani through its competent agencies as Lalwai is a state government officer and the matter does not come under our purview. We have also tipped off other central agencies about the deal,” CBI sources said.
Jagiasi, chartered accountant, was arrested twice by the CBI in the past five months. Before his arrest for allegedly bribing the CBI counsel on behalf of Gidwani, Jagiasi was arrested in February for allegedly promising an Air India official involved in a CBI anti-corruption case, to dilute the case if he paid Rs 50 lakhs.
When contacted, Lalwani admitted he was known to Jagiasi, but said the money he had received from Jagiasi was an education loan. “I needed money for my son’s education and hence borrowed it from Jagiasi. There is nothing wrong in borrowing money,” Lalwani said.
Legal advisor to DGP figures in Adarsh scam
Express news service
Posted: Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 0042 hrs IST
The naval authorities had never approached the Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) objecting against the Occupational Cetificate (OC) issued to Adarsh Cooperative Housing, chief secretary and former metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, Ratnakar Gaikwad has told the Adarsh Commission. The two-member panel looking into irregularities in the 31-storey building, was examining Gaikwad who had given the OC to the building in 2010 when he was with the MMRDA.
Adarsh scam: Navy didn’t directly approach MMRDA to object OC, says Gaikwad
Tatra trucks scam: CBI questions more people
TNN May 9, 2012, 03.25AM IST
Tatra Scam Probe|Ravinder Rishi|CBI|BEML
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation has intensified its probe to unearth alleged irregularities in procurement and supply of all-terrain Tatra trucks to the Army and has called some former defence ministry officials and executives of Vectra, involved in the deal, for questioning. Agency sources said they had found documents suggesting the role of some government officials in the multi-crore deal between Tatra Sipox (UK) and public sector undertaking BEML. However, the officials questioned on Tuesday were of middle-level posts.
Tatra Scam

The Bofors Scandal is India's Shame- culprits honoured

The Bofors story, 25 years after

“I knew what I was doing when I leaked the documents to you. I could not count on my government or Bofors or the government of India to get to the bottom of this.” STEN LINDSTROM explains why he chose to turn whistleblower to CHITRA SUBRAMANIAM-DUELLA
Posted/Updated Tuesday, Apr 24 11:19:37, 2012
April 2012 marks the 25 anniversary of the Bofors-India media revelations, which began on April 16, 1987 with revelations on Swedish state radio. The Hoot presents an interview with the man who decided to leak over 350-documents to former Indian journalist Chitra Subramaniam-Duella, then with The Hindu and later with The Indian Express and The Statesman. The documents included payment instructions to banks, open and secret contracts, hand written notes, minutes of meetings and an explosive diary. They led to the electoral defeat of an Indian prime minister and blew gaping holes into a Swedish prime minister’s record as a champion of peace and disarmament. Above all, they formed the basis for the first ever transfer of secret bank documents from Switzerland to India.
Sten Lindstrom is the former head of Swedish police who led the investigations into the Bofors-India gun deal. In an interview to Subramaniam-Duella, he reveals himself as the Swedish Deep Throat and explains why he chose to turn whistleblower.
Q - Why did you decide to identify yourself now?
A – Twenty five years is a good land-mark. We have had some time for reflection. Now it is time to speak again. Corruption levels in the world are increasing. There is new business around corruption with companies selling products that measure corruption instead of questioning why it is there in the first place. In a world of shrinking resources and ruthless ambition, we have to ensure that survival instincts that brought us out of the caves do not push us back in there because of a few greedy people. I hope I can contribute to the global struggle against corruption by sharing what I know.
Q – Tell us something about yourself.
A – Like many Swedes of my generation, my wife Eva and I were raised in the best traditions of social-democracy. Swedes are a hard-working people. Equity and justice for all is something we hold dear and for which we have strived as a nation. We built our institutions, our political and social systems around principles that were gold standards. We led the world as much in business forums as in the social arena.
Q – Nostalgia?
A – No, I base myself on hard evidence that is even more relevant today than it was 25 years ago. We are still world leaders in many fields, but somewhere our guiding principles have fallen by the wayside. No one is against successful businesses and it can be done. Here in Sweden we have the Wallenbergs, in India you have the TATA group. These are global companies and institutions. Their business ethics and corporate social responsibility work is not a slide on a power-point. It is generations of hard work. Bofors was a good company. Their products were good. Unfortunately in the race to expand business, they resorted to illegal shipments, bribery and corruption. They claimed a tax-deduction for the money they had to pay as bribes.
In my long career as a police officer I have seen many things. What was shocking in the whole Bofors-India saga was the scale of political involvement in Sweden breaking all rules including those we set for ourselves. Bofors was a wake-up call for most Swedes who thought corruption happens only far away in Africa, South America and Asia. There was disbelief and hurt when they found that some of their top politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen were no better than others. The $1.3 billion deal with India for the sale of 410 field howitzers, and a supply contract almost twice that amount was the biggest arms deal ever in Sweden. Money marked for development projects was diverted to secure this contract at any cost. Rules were flouted, institutions were bypassed and honest Swedish officials and politicians were kept in the dark. Our former Prime Minister Olof Palme was talking peace, disarmament and sustainable development globally, while we were selling arms illegally, including to countries that were on our banned list. My office, the office of Hans Ekblom, the public prosecutor in Stockholm, our National Audit Bureau – everything was ignored. So was the Swedish tax-payer.
The Managing Director of Bofors Martin Ardbo had worked very hard for this deal. He brought over 900 jobs to Karlskoga where Bofors is headquartered for atleast a decade. When the stories started appearing Ardbo was a shaken man. He knew that I knew that he had made a political payment even more secretly than the rest to close this deal. He told me he didn’t have a choice.
Q – How did the India angle in Bofors crop-up?
A – It was an accident. We were conducting several search and seize operations in the premises of Bofors and their executives. I have some experience in this area, so I asked my team to take everything they could find. In the pile were one set of documents to Swiss banks with instructions that the name of the recipient should be blocked out. An accountant doing his job asked why anonymity was necessary since the payments were legal. Bofors was unable to explain and then we found more and more documents leading to India.
The Bofors Story after 25 years: click here for the full interview

IAS Couple linked to Ravi Rishi in Tatra Scam

'Tainted' IAS couple linked to Ravi Rishi in Tatra scam?
The writer has posted comments on this articleTNN | Apr 22, 2012, 01.53AM IST
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Tatra scam is examining a connection between Madhya Pradesh IAS couple Arvind Joshi and Tinoo Joshi, who are facing graft charges, and London-based businessman Ravi Rishi. The CBI is looking at Rishi's Vectra Group acquiring maximum shares in Greater Noida's Indian Exposition Mart Limited (IEML) at the time when Tinoo Joshi was posted as Development Commissioner Handicrafts in the ministry of textiles. Sources said the agency is scrutinizing the bank accounts of the IAS couple, who were suspended by the MP government after the Income Tax department recovered more than Rs 3 crore cash during a raid at their house in February, 2010. CBI is examining transaction details of 70 bank accounts of the suspended IAS couple and an official said "All entries in their accounts and related transaction details are being looked at. We may question the IAS couple in this regard". "
Acquisition of majority shares in IEML by the Vectra Group is under the scanner. There are allegations that role of Joshi was crucial role in this acquisition," said the source. The agency recently conducted raids at IEML in Greater Noida and have recovered certain documents in this regard. The agency is investigating Rishi, a majority stakeholder in Tatra Sipox (UK), for alleged irregularities in the purchase of more than 6,000 Tatra trucks after Army chief Gen V K Singh claimed that he was offered a Rs 14 crore bribe on behalf of the businessman.
The CBI is also taking assistance of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax department in this regard. The CBI may also soon question Rishi again after having already sought assistance of the Interpol to get details about certain companies - allegedly associated with the NRI businessman - that are based in Slovakia, Czech Republic, the UK and Liechtenstein. 'Tainted' IAS couple linked to Ravi Rishi in Tatra scam?
Convoluted Money Laundering Cycle of Ravi Rishi- Tatra Vectra BEML and IAS Couple Spectre
Page 1 Laundering cycle of Ravi Rishi
Page 2 Laundering Cycle of Ravi Rishi
Page 3 Laundering cycle of Ravi Rishi
Comment: John Doe
This is how “Lobby-Nexus” to promote "Proprietary Raj of Ravi Rishi" (more sophisticated word would be Single Vendor System) in various purchases for ARMY via BEML, was formed over a period of time...

CBI's diversionary raids on BEML Chief: CBI could pull a few more rabbits?

Tatra punch packed with raid heat on BEML chief By Mail Today Reporter
PUBLISHED: 19:28 GMT, 19 April 2012 | UPDATED: 19:28 GMT, 19 April 2012
The CBI on Thursday opened another front to pin down the tainted chief of the state-run Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) who has already been neck deep in trouble for the multi-crore military truck scandal.
The sleuths registered a case of corruption against BEML chairman and managing director VRS Natarajan for irregularities in engaging the services of a consultancy firm to implement an enterprises resource planning project.
It's a parallel case that the CBI was probing apart from the primary inquiry into the BEML-Tatra trucks deal. Agency sleuths said after exhaustive raids at Natarajan's houses and offices that they were probing the new case.
A BEML spokesperson also made it clear the raids were not connected with the truck deal. 'A case against the BEML CMD and a director of a Coimbatore based company has been registered under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Searches are being carried out in the offices and residential premises of the accused,' a CBI statement said. The agency said the company in question was Astral Consulting Ltd in Coimbatore.
CBI officials added that Natarajan and the promoters of Astral connived to defraud the public sector undertaking through irregularities in the tendering process for hiring a consultancy to implement the enterprises resource planning project. 'It was alleged that the accused persons were party to a criminal conspiracy in Bangalore and other places during 2004-2009 to cheat BEML through work relating to the implementation of the enterprises resource planning project. This caused wrongful loss to the PSU (BEML) and wrongful gain to others,' the CBI said. The investigating agency, which interrogated Natarajan throughout the day, said the raids were based on credible information.
The CBI booked Natarajan and Astral director C.S. Srivatsan under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, besides Sections 13(2) and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Sources said the CBI could pull a few more rabbits as it goes through the load of complaints against Natarajan. However, the officials refused to divulge details. Apart from the BEML chief, the CBI on Thursday questioned Brig. (retd) P.C. Das, Col (retd) Anil Datta and Anil Mansharamani for their role in the Tatra scam. Their homes were raided the day before.
Mansharamani, a Tatra employee, was said to be regularly in touch with the two former army officers who were suspected to have lobbied for Tatra using their clout in the army. Sources said they were questioned for their links with the UKbased Tatra Sipox and its owner Ravi Rishi. The Tatra controversy erupted in full force after the army chief, Gen. V. K. Singh, said last month that a retired Lt-Gen. had offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore to clear the purchase of 600 substandard Tatra trucks.
It was suspected later that the officer in question was Lt-Gen. (retd) Tejinder Singh. Since then, the BEML-Tatra deal has come under intense scrutiny.
Read more: CBI could pull a few more rabbits

Tatra Drama- spinning a web- CBI remains clueless!

CBI set to examine BEML chief Natrajan in Tatra deal
Rajesh Ahuja, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, April 14, 2012
Comments
Anil: I think you are correct. Just a drama will be inacted since if they catch one that will lead to another and that into another and so on. Just see how this 2G - Raja- Chidu drama is gping! In any civilised and true democracy these people will. E behind bar together not one (if at all) after another.
Arvind: This Rishi guys is running a paper company in England for making invoice and documents, His partners will all be Indian netas and babus and the hat B**stard the BEML chief, who himself declared the vehicles fit because the thought he was the ARMY CHIEF. That man and this Rishi are traitors and must be tried for treason in National Defense matters.
click here to read more comments and CBI

AK Antony okayed Ravi Rishi's prosecution

Tatra trucks case: AK Antony okayed Ravi Rishi's prosecution in February
Devesh Kumar, ET Bureau Apr 7, 2012, 05.24AM IST
Tags:Tatra truck|Sonia Gandhi|Ravi Rishi|PIO|Ghulam Nabi Azad|General VK Singh|Defence|Army Chief|AK Antony
NEW DELHI: Defence minister AK Antony had sanctioned prosecution of Ravi Rishi, the London-based PIO who is an accused in the case of alleged irregularities in the purchase of Tatra trucks, a little over four weeks before the Army chief, General VK Singh, went public with his allegation that he had been offered a bribe of 14 crore for clearing "a tranche of 600 sub-standard vehicles".
General Singh, who leveled this allegation in an interview to a leading national daily on March 24, also pointed out that 7,000 of those sub-standard vehicles were already in use in the Army and had been sold over the years at exorbitant prices.
The bribery charge triggered an uproar in Parliament, forcing Antony to order a CBI probe into it. But what he failed to mention that he had already sanctioned the prosecution of Rishi, the owner of Vectra group, on February 21 this year. His action came in response to a letter forwarded to him by Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was in charge of Congress' affairs in Karnataka, in October, 2009.
The letter, which was redirected by Antony to defence production secretary on the same day, had travelled a long way. It was written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi in August, 2009, by D Hanumanthappa, president of the Karnataka branch of the All India Federation of SC/ST/Backward Classes and Minority Employees Welfare Association, and highlighted the charge that BEML CMD VRS Natarajan had placed an order worth 6,000 crore for the purchase of Tatra trucks from a British agent and, not from the original equipment manufacturer, which was, he alleged, a violation of procurement guidelines.
On its receipt, Sonia is said to have marked the letter to Azad, who was in charge of the party's affairs in Karnataka. The latter is learnt to have forwarded it to the defence minister. Antony, it now transpires, sent it to the defence production secretary for an internal probe into the bribery charge the day he received it from Azad.
After conducting an inquiry on his own, the defence production secretary, it is learnt, reported to Antony that a case could indeed be made out against Ravi Rishi who, contrary to initial media reports, was not an NRI, but a person of Indian origin (PIO) settled in London.
The case was subsequently referred to CBI, which registered a preliminary enquiry into the allegations. As it was aware of the contours of the case, the probe agency swung into action after it came to know that Rishi was planning to undertake a trip to India to participate in Defexpo India 2012, the country's biggest-ever land, naval and homeland security systems exhibition, which was inaugurated by Antony on March 29.
CBI registered an FIR into the case on March 20 and, two days later, it issued a lookout notice to prevent Rishi from leaving the country. He has already been grilled by the investigating agency at least six times since then.
Tatra trucks case: AK Antony okayed Ravi Rishi's prosecution in February