New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed the bail plea of an accused in the Rs 10 crore railway bribery case in which ex-Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew was among those arrested. Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma rejected the bail plea of Dharmender Kumar after CBI contended that his release could adversely affect probe which was in initial stages.
Dharmedra along with co-accused Vivek Kumar had allegedly delivered Rs 90 lakh, part of the Rs 10 crore bribe amount, to Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla in Chandigarh to get a plum post for a Railway Board official. "Arguments heard. Bail application dismissed," the judge said.
Senior Public Prosecutor Akshay Gautam, appearing for CBI, opposed the bail plea of Dharmender saying he and co-accused Vivek were well aware of the purpose behind the delivery of money and to whom it was to be given and as such they were one of the conspirators in the case.
Considering the "gravity" of the offence, "it would be a travesty of justice to show mercy to them", the counsel for CBI said. "Any leniency shown to them would be misplaced," he added....
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06:10 PM, May 18, 2013
Hyderabad: The South Central Railway (SCR) plans to procure 200 more eco-friendly bio-toilets to provide the facility on more trains in the next few months. The decision was taken after successful trial of 48 bio-toilets fitted to the 17 coaches being run on Hyderabad-Mumbai Hussain Sagar Express and Kacheguda-Bangalore Express. Bio-toilets were developed jointly by Railway Research and Standard Organisation (RDSO) and Defence Research Development Establishment (DRDE) for use in...
06:00 AM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: The BJP on Friday took exception to CBI director Ranjit Sinha's remarks that former minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has a strong defence in the case of alleged bribery involving his nephew. BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that Sinha's remarks were "very unfortunate". "The matter is sub judice and the investigative agency is saying that there may not be concrete evidence," Naqvi told IANS. "The matter should...
04:40 AM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: Embarrassed by the revelations about a union leader and retired RPF official occupying three government bungalows, the Railways has cancelled allotment of two houses and started eviction proceedings. "When it came to our notice that two houses are not been used for the purpose they were allotted, we decided to cancel the allotments," said a senior Railway Ministry official. Two of the bungalows allotted to retired officer of...
11:32 PM, May 16, 2013
New Delhi: CBI is analysing property documents of arrested Railway Board member Mahesh Kumar, who is facing allegations of paying bribe to nephew of then Railway Minister PK Bansal to get posting of choice, to find out if he has amassed wealth beyond known sources of income. Sources said the agency has recovered some documents during searches at his official residence in Mumbai while some were found from a different...
10:42 PM, May 16, 2013
Mumbai: Demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP today said an independent probe in the coal allocation scam was not possible till he occupies the top post. Party Vice-President Balbir Punj told reporters here that the CBI which had acted swiftly in the Rail scam, involving Pawan Bansal, has chosen not to show enough activism in the coalgate investigation. "Some action has been taken against bribe givers, but...
08:59 PM, May 15, 2013
New Delhi: The Railway Board chairman on Wednesday asked the RPF association to vacate Railway properties with immediate effect. The RPF Association has been illegally occupying four properties including one in Delhi. CNN-IBN had reported that the CBI was looking at the role and clout of the RPF Association in Railway postings. The Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry of Home Affairs have already issued alerts and advisories against the RPF...
07:09 PM, May 15, 2013
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is aiming to file its chargesheet in the Railway scam on July 3, sources said on Tuesday. The taped conversations between accused in the scam have been sent for forensic tests and the reports are expected soon, sources said. The CBI sources also said that a questionnaire for ex-Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was being prepared. The sources said that the CBI...
04:53 PM, May 14, 2013
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday questioned two railway officials in the case relating to bribery for appointment of a senior railway officer to a lucrative post. "Two officers have been questioned today (Monday). The investigations are on," CBI sources told IANS. Pawan Kumar Bansal was dropped as railway minister after the name of his nephew Vijay Singla surfaced in the case. Singla was allegedly paid...
06:01 AM, May 14, 2013
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11:19 PM, May 13, 2013
The CBI is likely to register a preliminary inquiry into the appointment of senior officers in the Railway Protection Force as it suspects large scale corruption in these postings. ...
09:15 PM, May 13, 2013
New Delhi: CBI is likely to register a preliminary inquiry into the appointment of senior officers in the Railway Protection Force as it suspects large scale corruption in these postings. Sources said files related to appointments of senior officers in Railway Protection Force have been sought by CBI in this connection. Under the CBI scanner is the posting of a Director General Of RPF who had reportedly superseded 25 officers...
08:40 PM, May 13, 2013
Patna: With UPA-II having six ministers in the Railways during the present tenure, RJD president Lalu Prasad on Monday took a jibe saying since he left Railways his successors were getting "derailed". "After I left Rail Ministry, none of my successors have been able to stay there...everybody is getting derailed in the ministry," Lalu, who served as a rail minister in UPA-I, told reporters. Lalu was commenting on resignation of...
07:56 PM, May 13, 2013
New Delhi: The Assam government on Monday stepped up security on the North East Frontier Railway (NEFR) after a threat issued by a tribal group to disrupt traffic. The group, called the Adivasi People's Army, issued a threat to disrupt rail traffic at Srirampur and Kokrajhar in Assam. Kokrajhar in Assam is a sensitive area that witnessed violent clashes between different groups in 2012. Four Bodoland Territorial Administered Districts (BTAD)...
05:33 PM, May 13, 2013
New Delhi: Over 6,400 railway employees are facing departmental proceedings for being allegedly involved in corruption during 2012. Departmental proceedings were initiated against 6,454 employees, including 195 gazetted officials, working in different zones and allied departments of the Railways between January and December 2013 for alleged corruption, according to a latest data. Of the total of defaulting officials, a highest of 1,637 were working in Northern Railway zone, 698 under...
05:10 PM, May 13, 2013
New Delhi: The CBI probe on the railway recruitment scam, that toppled Pawan Bansal as the Railways Minister, has widened to reach the doorstep of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Sources say that the CBI will now probe the role of former Railway Board Chairman Vivek Sahai. Sources said that the CBI is investigating why Sahai held additional charge as Member, Traffic, and why another eligible candidate was denied...
04:50 PM, May 13, 2013
New Delhi: Railways handed over files on transfers within the ministry spanning last four years to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday. The CBI had sought files from the Railways on transfers from tenures of Mamata Banerjee to Pawan Kumar Bansal. CBI had sought the details to understand how the railway transfers and postings system works. The probe agency is also likely to question some officials from the...
12:14 PM, May 13, 2013
New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday said that decision to drop Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar from the cabinet was "joint decision" of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi even as BJP sought his resignation over reports that he was nudged into taking the decision. Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said that it had appeared in a section of the media that it was at the...
04:52 AM, May 13, 2013
Chandigarh: Disgraced former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Sunday had a brush with the media in Chandigarh, barely hours after returning from New Delhi where he quit from the union cabinet. The city press club has sought an apology from him. Bansal got furious when a media person asked him about the companies owned by his family. "I am not here to give you the definition of my family....
04:17 AM, May 13, 2013
New Delhi: Days after two Union Ministers were sacked, there were reports of a feud between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. But the Congress on Sunday downplayed that and said that there is no rift. The party has rubbished all reports that the Prime Minister has been isolated. Senior Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi on Sunday reiterated that the resignations of Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar...
02:31 PM, May 12, 2013
