RBI Corporate Thugs

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Editor: Nagaraja.M.R.. Vol.14..Issue.22........03  / 06 / 2018

SHOW-CAUSE NOTICE TO  GOVERNOR RESERVE BANK OF INDIA  ( RBI ) , UNION FINANCE MINISTER , GOI and  CHIEF  JUSTICE OF INDIA , SCI 

   I don’t  know whether secretariat staff of RBI office  &  DARPG  /  DPG  officials are forwarding my appeals for justice , e-mails to you  or not.  They will be held accountable for their lapses if any.  This notice is against  the repeated failure of constitutional duties  & indirect collusion with criminals  (mya be out of fear or favor or both ) by  previous RBI Governors , CJIs , Union Finace Ministers. Notice  is  served against them , to the office of RBI GOVERNOR  ,  office of  CJI & office of Union Finace Minister , NOT personally against you. At the individual level  I do whole heartedly   respect your honourableselves.

   In the recent past we have seen many corporate frauds ,  Hidden frauds / NPAs  are tumbling out  from cubboards of many banks  SBI , PNB , etc. Below mentioned huge  financial frauds , scams , swindling , cheating  like  NIRAV  MODI fraud , MALLYA  fraud ,  Satyam Fraud ,  NPA fraud cann’t  go unnoticed by your offices.  They cann’t happen without covert or overt , direct or indirect support from your offices.  When these frauds were brought to your notice & information sought under RTI Act  , your  offices  failed to  answer properly. Lest the truth come out. Thereby , they are shielding the criminals. When the issue was brought to the notice of SCI & CJI and appealed to them for justice , safety of public money they too failed to do their duties. Thereby , CJI too supported criminals by shielding them.

In india democracy is a farce , freedom a mirage. the most basic freedom RIGHT TO INFORMATION & EXPRESSION , is not honoured by the government,as the information opens up the crimes of V.V.I.Ps & leads to their ill-gotten wealth. The public servants are least bothered about the lives of people or justice to them. these type of fat cats , parasites are a drain on the public exchequer . these people want ,wish me to see dead , wish to see HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH closed . so that, a voice against injustices is silenced forever , the crimes of V.V.I.Ps closed , buried forever.

To my numerous appeals , HRW’s appeals to you ,you have not yet replied. It clearly shows that you are least bothered about the lives of people or justice to them .it proves that you are hell bent to protect the criminals at any cost. you are just pressurising the police to enquire me ,to take my statement, to repeatedly call me to police station all with a view to silence me.all of you enjoy “legal immunity privileges” ,why don’t you have given powers to the police / investigating officer to summon all of you for enquiry ?or else why don’t all of you are not appearing before the police voluntarily for enquiry ?at the least why don’t all of you are not sending your statement about the case to the police either through legal counsel or  through post? you are aiding criminals ,by denying me job oppurtunities in R.B.I CURRENCY NOTE PRESS mysore , city civil court ,bangalore , distict court , mysore ,etc & by illegally closing my newspaper.
there is a gross, total mismatch between your actions and your oath of  office. this amounts to public cheating & moral turpitude on your  part.

1.you are making contempt of the very august office you hold.
2.you are making contempt of the constitution of india.
3.you are making contempt of citizens of india.
4.you are sponsoring & aiding terorrism & organized crime by allowing the swindled money to fund terrorist outfits , mafia and underworld.
5.you are violating the fundamental & human rights of the citizens of  india and of neighbouring countries.
6.you are violating & making contempt of the U.N HUMAN RIGHTS CHARTER  to which india is a signatory.
7.you are obstructing me from performing my fundamental duties as a  citizen of india.                                                         

8. As a result of your gross negligence of constitutional duties you have caused enormous financial loss to the public exchequer ,  caused damages to our national security , economic security.                                                                                                                                                                                   

9. You  have cheated the public by saying some thing on oath and doing different thing.                                                                                                                   

10. You are shielding criminals who are funding criminal activities.

Hereby , we call upon you to show cause within 30 days of this notice  why cann’t you be legally prosecuted  for above mentioned charges.

Date :  23.05.2018……………………………………………..your’s sincerely,
Place : Mysuru , India………………………………………….Nagaraja M R

PIL –  BANK ROBBERIES by bank executives

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015


IN THE MATTER OF


NAGARAJA . M.R

editor   DALIT  ONLINE
# LIG 2 , No 761 ,, HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,
Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State
.
....Petitioner

Versus

Honourable Governor , Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  & Others

....Respondents



PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.


To ,
Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship's Companion
Justices of the Supreme Court of India.

The Humble petition of the   Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :
1. Facts of the case:
"Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for
power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt public servants.

2. Eventhough , I have repeatedly appealed to RBI authorities since  years seeking justice regarding illegalities , irregularities  in  recruitment , currency handling , currency theft , etc @ RBI , they didn’t provide justice at all.

3. For a common man  it is a herculean task to get Rs.5000 loan from a  bank , but  rich & connected get lakhs , crores of rupees loan quite easily from banks , how ?

4. When a common man , farmer defaults to pay loan of few thousands of rupees bank immediately dispatches  loan recovery agents / Rowdies , seizes his property & auctions and recover their dues to last penny. Farmers are committing suicide unable to pay loans to escape from ignominy .

5. Huge companies get crores of rupees loan from banks eventhough basically the project report itself is at fault , not viable. Siphons off company  resources by insider trading to their sister concerns although bank representatives are very much their on the board of companies.

6 . Such companies default on loan dues to bank , but no recovery agents / rowdies are sent by banks. Finally the company becomes bust.

7. Bank looses money , the company  is declared as NON PERFORMING ASSET and government + bank  waives off interest or else loan itself.

8. End looser the public whose money went down the drain , profiteers – company promoters , executives and bank manager. No recovery from their personal , family properties why ?

9. Eventhough , I have repeatedly appealed to RBI authorities , Union Finance Ministry  since  years seeking  information under RTI Act  regarding illegalities , irregularities  in RBI , Various banks , RBI Note Press ( BRBNMPL ) , etc , the  RBI authorities  have evaded answering our  questions  lest  the TRUTH come out. Supreme court of India specifically Chief Justice of India  were also approached to order RBI , Union Finance Ministry  to  disclose  information to us in public interest. But  SCI , CJI also failed to do their duties.

10. The money involved here is public money , it is nobody’s papa’s money.

11.  These  swindled monies are finding it’s way to under world , Mafia & Terror outfits. This proves  RBI  Governor , Union Finance Minister  and  Chief Justice of India  are  least  bothered to safe guard  PUBLIC MONEY. They are least bothered about our national security.

12. We have  offered  our conditional services to RBI , Union Finance Ministry & SCI  to apprehend  corporate criminals , to recover money while the  concerned officials have failed to do their duties. Till date  RBI , SCI , Government  have failed to respond to our offer.

13. We  SOS e Clarion of Dalit & SOS e Voice for Justice once again offer our conditional services to authorities , RBI , SCI  to legally apprehend corporate criminals , tax evaders &  corrupt bank executives  and to  recover monies from them.  Are RBI , SCI & Union Finance Ministry Ready to catch tax thieves , corporate criminals ,  corporate terrorists ?  Are  they ready to utilize our services ?

14. By , shielding corporate criminals  RBI , SCI , Union finance ministry  are  shielding  corporate criminals to continue financial aid to terrorist outfits , underworld & mafia. Thereby , RBI Governor  , Union Finance Minister  & CJI , Supreme Court of India have also become parties to those crimes , they themselves have become criminals.

15. These  Huge financial frauds , swindling for years  cann’t happen repeatedly for years  without  tacit understanding , cooperation , collusion , connivance  of RBI GOVERNOR and UNION FINANCE MINISTER. These crimes  are  spared from  fair , timely legal trials  with tacit support  of  Chief Justice of India.

16. These swindled money is destabilizing our economy , funding terrorist outfits , mafia & underworld. These are posing constant threat to our national security , integrity.

17. By financially supporting funding of criminals , terrorists RBI GOVERNOR ,  UNION FINANCE MINSTER & CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA themselves have become   anti nationals , criminals , terrorists.



2. Question(s) of Law:

Is it right for banks , government to let out fraudsters , bank  executives  without criminal prosecution  & recovery ?


3. Grounds:
Requests for equitable justice , Prosecution of master minds of financial frauds.


4. Averment:

Covering up Financial Frauds. Please read details at :

 https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rbi---robberer-s-bureau-of-india ,

https://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/rbi-robberers-bureau-of-india/  ,



Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.


The Petitioner has sent many letters / appeals / petitions to supreme court of india & other courts through e-mail , DARPG website & through regular mail requesting them to consider those as PILs. But none ofthem were admitted , even acknowledgement for receipts were not given. See How duty conscious ,our judges are & see how our judges are sensitive towards life , liberty of citizens , commonmen & see howcareless our judges are towards anti national crimes , crimes worth crores of rupees. That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER:
In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased:

a . Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants , RBI authorities  in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the below  RTI  questions.
b . to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

c. To legally prosecute authorities of M/s RBI &  M/s BRBNMPL , who denied job opportunities to me under the behest of criminals responsible for late PM Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. 

d. To legally prosecute responsible bank executives & fraudsters.

e. To make it mandatory for all bank executives including board members to make their  income , wealth details public every year. This must be disclosed  under RTI A ct.

f. To form a  statutory mechanism to share   information about creditors , debtors , borrowers , policy holders , insurers , wealth managers , etc between all financial institutions like SEBI , RBI , IRDA , Banks , etc. Creditor , debtor information must be disclosed under RTI Act.

g. To book criminal cases of Rowdyism , goondaism against rowdy loan recovery agents & respective bank managers.

h.  To  reopen cases of   Currency exchange scandal @ RBI Bangalore incinerator  and currency theft cases @ RBI currency note press , Mysuru. To also legally prosecute  bank executives & CBI investigating officials  who shielded  original criminals in these cases.

i. To order  full payment of  unjustly withheld salary , gratuity , pension dues , etc to victimized  RBI staff Mr. Ganapathi Hariram immediately.

j. To  appoint  a person from lending bank to  loan availing companies to monitor it’s daily  financial affairs.

k. To legally prosecute RBI Governor , Chief Justice of India & Union Finance Minister  for  aiding  fund raisers of terrorists , underworld.

l. To order  Government of India to accept our conditional offer  of apprehending corporate terrorists.

m. To criminal legal prosecution against promoters of fraud companies , partners in their crimes supporting company executives and bank executives.

n. To order for recovery of money with interest & penalty  , by confiscation of properties of such company promoters , their family properties , property of concerned bank executives  and most importantly PROPERTIES  OF RBI GOVERNOR , UNION FINANCE  MINISTER & CJI must be attached.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.

Kindly read full details at following web page :

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rbi---robberer-s-bureau-of-india ,

https://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/rbi-robberers-bureau-of-india/  ,

Dated :  23^rd  May  2018   ………………….FILED BY: NAGARAJA.M.R.

Place :   Mysuru , India…………………….   PETITIONER-IN-PERSON 

Of Rs 7,000 crore lent to Kingfisher, banks can now recover just Rs 6 crore

As Vijay Mallya and his son Siddharth sit with a Rs 21 crore purse and seven cricketers he can sell to make some money in the IPL auction, India's public sector banks are struggling to recover even a fraction of their Rs 7000-crore loans from Mallya's grounded Kingfisher Airlines.

Documents, forensic reports and accounts of people from across the world studied by dna reveal that members of the 17-bank consortium of lenders led by SBI may never be able to recover the money loaned to Mallya's airline.

SBI-Kingfisher tale

The State Bank of India (SBI), the major lender to Mallya's airline, till now has managed to recover only Rs 155 crore out of the Rs 1,623 crore due from it. dna has learnt from official SBI sources that the value of Kingfisher Airlines pledged to the bank has now plummeted from Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 6 crore! SBI is unable to find a single buyer for the 'Kingfisher' trademarks. And Kingfisher Airlines has told Indian courts that it is not in a position to payback its debts.

According to the hypothecation deed signed between SBI and Kingfisher Airlines on August 10, 2010, SBI was given ownership of all trademarks and goodwill if Kingfisher Airlines failed to repay its debts.

These included Fly Kingfisher (label mark & word), Flying Models, Fly The Good Times, Funliner & Kingfisher (label mark). In 2009, global consultancy firm Grant & Thronton valued Kingfisher trademarks at Rs 4,111 crore or roughly $1 billion. In 2012, when the airline's licence was suspended by India's aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Kingfisher Airlines valued itself at Rs 3,008 crore. The current value of the trademarks now stands at a mere Rs 6 crore! "We have put it up for sale. But have not received any satisfactory responses till now," according to official bank sources.

Year Brand value of Kingfisher Airlines Money owed to banks (estimated)

2009: Rs 4,111 crore : Rs 4,000 crore

2012: Rs 3,008 crore : Rs 7,000 crore

2014: Rs 6 crore : Rs 7,000 crore

The role of some banks is also quite suspicious. One of the banks under the radar of the CBI for its loans to Kingfisher Airlines is IDBI. CBI sources reveal that IDBI had extended loans to Kingfisher despite being warned by some board members not to do so. The result is that the bank has ended up with bad debts of Rs 700 crore. Curiously, IDBI gave the loan to Kingfisher after being pledged the airline's now 'junk' trademarks worth a mere Rs 6 crore!

Among the medium-sized banks, Bank of India is owed Rs 308 crore. The bank was mortgaged all the current assets of the airline. It included items like air conditioners, tractors and monetarily unsubstantial items like folding chairs. The bank has been struggling to recover even a fraction of its loan from the sale of Kingfisher's bag of random goodies. How could a bank give over Rs 300 crore after being pledged office stationary like boarding pass printers & folding chairs remains a mystery. BOI did not respond to dna's questions.

Sumanto Bhattacharya, spokesperson of UB Group, denies manipulating the banks, "There is no question of any deliberate undervaluation by Kingfisher Airlines Ltd as the banks themselves had conducted their own due diligence including the security available and also satisfied themselves about the viability of Kingfisher Airlines Ltd before undertaking the debt restructuring."

Property given as bank guarantee

Documents accessed by dna show that Mallya had also given a personal guarantee of several other physical properties – one of which was his 'Hollywood' style Kingfisher Villa located at Candolim, Goa. SBI is awaiting a reply from the District Magistrate who has to give permission for police personnel to step in and help the bank recover the property. The application is yet to be even listed for hearing. Even if SBI gets physical possession of the property, all it will manage is to dent Mallya's ego. The value of the villa, though higher than Kingfisher trademarks, is barely a fraction of the Rs 1,600 crore that Mallya owes SBI.

Another one of 'irrecoverable' properties was Kingfisher House, measuring over 17,000 square feet in Mumbai's suburban Andheri locality, which was given as a personal guarantee by Mallya. The property was originally hypothecated to Punjab National Bank in 2010 and Kingfisher Airlines owes the bank Rs 290 crore. Kingfisher Airlines refused to part with the property and the matter is currently listed in the Chief Metropolitan Court in Mumbai after SBI filed an application under the securitisation and reconstruction of financial assets and enforcement of security interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002.

Sumanto Bhattacharya, spokesperson of the UB Group, denies playing hardball, "Kingfisher House is owned by Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and not Mallya. Kingfisher Villa is owned by United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd and not Mallya. In any case, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd is a party defendant to proceedings filed in the Goa courts by United Spirits Ltd in respect of Kingfisher Villa and since the matter being sub-judice it won't be appropriate to comment on it."

Other banks caught in Kingfisher's loan trap

Perhaps more curious is the case of Indian Overseas Bank. The airline owes IOB a sum of Rs 108 crore for which it had mortgaged two helicopters in 2008. IOB did not respond to dna's questions on the whereabouts of the choppers. It is believed that the Eurocopters were not in flying condition and the bank is struggling to dispose them of to recover its bad debts. IOB is now a loss-making bank having posted a Rs 516-crore loss this quarter.

There are other smaller banks in the consortium which have lent money to Kingfisher Airlines after being pledged the airline's current assets. Central Bank of India gave a term loan of Rs 350 crore on the condition that all sale proceeds and lease rents would be remitted in an escrow account with the bank. The airline was grounded within a year and the bank couldn't recover the money. Banks like Corporation Bank, State Bank of Mysore and Vijaya Bank gave loans of close to Rs 400 crore after being pledged all movable assets, movable assets and plant & machinery of the airline.

Many of the banks have reached a dead end. A realisation has dawned on them that Rs 7000 crore of public deposits they lent to Kingfisher Airlines have vanished in thin air. Chances of even recovering even a fraction of the amount seem to be fading by the day.

Was IDBI ex-CMD behind Rs 900-cr loan to Vijay Mallya’s airlines?

Yogesh Agarwal, former CMD of IDBI Bank, may have played a key role in sanctioning loans worth Rs 900 crore to Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) despite the carrier’s low credit ratings, a CBI probe has revealed, sources said.

KFA had applied for a “corporate loan” of Rs 950 crore on October 1 of 2009, out of which around Rs 900 crore was sanctioned in three installments by November 19 last year by the bank’s credit committee, the source added.

The CBI is looking into the minutes of an alleged meeting held between Mallya and Agarwal on October 6 last year to see if it led to the issue of the sanction subsequently, he added. “The then CFO of KFA, A Raghunathan, who was named in CBI’s First Information Report of July last year, had twice written to the IDBI top brass, requesting to expedite the loan’s sanction process, and referred on both the occasions that a “meeting” was held between Mallya and Agarwal in this regard.”

When contacted by HT, Aggarwal said: “I don’t want to comment on this issue.”

Read: Kingfisher loan default case: ED summons IDBI Bank, KFA officials

Raghunathan had written to the bank to expedite the sanction of the loan despite the fact that KFA allegedly did not meet the conditions stipulated under the bank’s corporate loan policy on account of “negative financials” and inadequate credit ratings, the source added.

The loan application was signed by Raghunathan.

“Twice the CFO wrote to the bank, citing a meeting between Vijay Mallya and the then IDBI CMD, and things began moving fast,” the source said. “The loan was okayed by the bank’s credit committee with Agarwal’s approval.”

The UB Group has denied any wrongdoing so far.

Bank of Baroda finds Rs 6,000 crore of illegal forex transfers

NEW DELHI: Bank of Baroda officials recently stumbled upon illegal transfers of a whopping Rs 6,172 crores in foreign exchange, made to Hong Kong through newly-opened accounts in the bank's Ashok Vihar branch.

The Congress revealed details of the case at a press conference on Friday.

The bank was alerted to the scam when it found that the forex business of its Ashok Vihar branch shot up to Rs 21,529 crores during 2014-15 - an increase of more than 500 times -- from Rs 45 crores in 2013-14. Between August 1, 2014 and August 12 this year, there were 8,667 forex transactions from the branch, prompting the bank to look into the increase.

An internal investigation by the bank revealed that the transactions did not trigger alerts such as the generation of an exceptional transaction report by the branch in North Delhi. The income tax department and other agencies were also oblivious to the transactions despite amounts transferred adding up to several crores a day.

TOI tried several times to reach BoB executive director B B Joshi for more details, but he was unavailable.


Investigations showed major irregularities, because the forex transactions were done mainly via advance remittances for import, through newly-opened current accounts. Heavy cash transactions -- sometimes four or five times a day -- were also noticed.

BoB's internal audit team recently red-flagged the irregularities to the finance ministry. It is not clear yet whether this money belongs to an entity, or a group of people, that wanted its black money sent abroad. Central agencies like the CBI and the ED are likely to soon investigate the matter, said sources.

The revelation comes at a time when the Narendra Modi government is trying to ensure that black money does not flow abroad, and instead comes back into the country. The Congress said the irregularity punched holes in Prime Minister Modi's claim that there have been no scams since he assumed office.

The Congress alleged that the amount, made up of "black money", was sent out of the country through a series of bank transaction two months after the Modi government took charge at the Centre last year. "Leave alone Vyapam, Lalit Modi or the Chhattisgarh rice scam, I want to tell the PM that this scam is happening in Delhi right under the nose of the Centre," Congress spokesperson R P N Singh said.

He added that for the past two days in Bihar, the PM has been saying that there has been no scam since his government took over, and he has repeated the same thing in his speeches abroad.

"The bank is in Delhi and the government has all the information about the scam as the audit report was sent to higher authorities. BJP has been talking about scandals. So many scams are coming out, but the PM says that there is not even one allegation against him. We are placing proof of the scam," Mr Singh said, demanding an independent investigation into the transactions.
The Congress claimed that the government has been aware of the scam for the past two months, since the time the bank submitted the inquiry report. The Congress spokesperson wondered why no FIR been filed in the case so far.

He said such a scam could not have been carried out without the "complicity" of top officials in the banking network and finance ministry.

"One is forced to wonder as to how a government bank did not adhere to the very basic due diligence as regards deposits, transfers and withdrawals by any entity," Singh alleged.


In its audit report, the entries for remittances -- many of which were done manually -- have allegedly been fudged and many of them have been made by punching the exchange rate as Rs 0.0001 to a dollar when the prevailing exchange rate was Rs 60 to a dollar.

While the remittances for exports and imports were normal, suddenly there was a spike of Rs 6172.92 crore transactions in the form of advance remittances for import.

"Most of the foreign exchange related transactions were carried out in the newly opened current accounts of some 59 companies," the report reveals. There were heavy cash receipts also in newly opened accounts of some importers.

The investigation report accessed by TOI adds that the amount was remitted as advance for imports, and in most of the cases, the beneficiary was the same (such as Victroxx International Ltd, Great Asian Exports, King Winner International Ltd, Star Exim Ltd, I touch Infocomm Ltd, Fortune Trading Pvt Ltd, Jasco Ltd, Mega Forwarders and Traders etc).

The amount remitted in all the transactions was less than $100,000. The remittances in all cases were made to Hong Kong, said the report.

"It was observed that on many occasions, the party made 4/5 remittances in a single day to the same exporter and the total amount of all the remittances was more than $100,000. 4-5 remittances were probably done to keep the amount of each remittance less than $100,000," adds the report.

Explaining the modus operandi , the report states that the branch was in the practice of consolidated reporting of forex transactions against large number of public bills. Docket numbers were not obtained/generated for each remittance and despite heavy advance payments for imports being made to the same suppliers, credit reports of the suppliers were not obtained. And wherever credit reports are available with the branch, the same contained adverse remarks. "The branch has not adhered to due diligence while remitting advance payment for imports," says the report.

Subsequently, A-1 form in most of the cases was not signed by the branch head/bank official and in many cases by the customer.

It adds that "in most of the cases mode of shipment, date of shipment and place of shipmen are not mentioned in the proforma invoice" and "bill of entry/evidence of imports was not obtained before making further remittances to the same supplier". No effort was made by the bank to obtain evidence of import/bill of entry from importers.

India ranks 4th in black money outflows per annum: Report

WASHINGTON: India ranks fourth in black money outflows with a whopping $51 billion siphoned out of the country per annum between 2004-2013, a US-based think-tank's report said on Wednesday.

Notably India's defence budget is less than $50 billion. China tops the list with $139 billion average outflow of illicit finances per annum, followed by Russia ($104 billion per annum) and Mexico ($52.8 billion per annum), according to the annual report released by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based research and advisory organisation.

The illegal capital outflows stem from tax evasion, crime, corruption and other illicit activity, the report said, according to which a record $1.1 trillion flowed illicitly out of developing and emerging economies in 2013, the latest year for which data is available.

In all, during this decade-long period of 2004-2014, GFI estimates that more than half a trillion ($510 billion) went out of India and in the case of China the figure was $1.39 trillion and Russia $1 trillion.

Titled 'Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2004-2013', the study shows that illicit financial flows first surpassed $1 trillion in 2011 and have grown to $1.1 trillion in 2013, marking a dramatic increase from 2004, when illicit outflows totalled just $465.3 billion.

China also had the largest illicit outflows of any country in 2013, amounting to a staggering $258.64 billion in just that one year, the report said.



"This study clearly demonstrates that illicit financial flows are the most damaging economic problem faced by the world's developing and emerging economies," said GFI President Raymond Baker, a longtime authority on financial crime.

"This year at the UN the mantra of 'trillions not billions' was continuously used to indicate the amount of funds needed to reach the Sustainable Development Goals. Significantly curtailing illicit flows is central to that effort," he said.

Noting that Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls on countries to significantly reduce illicit financial flows by 2030, the report said the international community has not yet agreed on goal indicators, the technical measurements to provide baselines and track progress made on underlying targets and subsequently the overall SDGs.

In its report, GFI recommends that world leaders should focus on curbing opacity in the global financial system, which facilitates these outflows.

 

Suicide Mystery and Corruption at IFFCO

The farmers' cooperative with a turnover of Rs 21,000 crore comes under a cloud after the sudden death of its chairman and an ED probe into graft charges against its CEO

Sandeep Bamzai

July 9, 2011 

On January 17, Surinder Jakhar, chairman of India's fertiliser behemoth, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), with a turnover of Rs 21,000 crore in 2010-11, was found dead in his farmhouse in Abohar, Punjab. Jakhar was the son of senior Congress leader Balram Jakhar, who served as Lok Sabha speaker, Union agriculture minister and Governor of Madhya Pradesh. His body was riddled with bullets. The police closed the case saying it was an accidental death-Jakhar shot himself while cleaning his gun. The police never explained how an accident with a non-automatic weapon could have led to his body being riddled with bullets. The sheer number of bullets fired also seemed to rule out suicide. There were apparently no eyewitness.

What adds to the mystery is the letter that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) wrote to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) a few months earlier, asking it to investigate IFFCO Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Uday Shankar Awasthi, 66. Allegations of a lavish lifestyle and accusations of running the cooperative like a fiefdom prompted the CVC to take up the matter. Awasthi has been running IFFCO, which has a pan Indian footprint and is the umbrella body for 37,000 smaller cooperatives, for close to two decades. Under his leadership, IFFCO's Vision 2015 aims to achieve a production target of 15 million tonnes and a turnover of Rs 30,000 crore, 50 per cent higher than the turnover recorded in 2010-2011. An art aficionado, Awasthi even got the MD's retirement age hiked to 65.

The CVC's letter to the ED alleged irregularities in the procurement of phosphoric acid and other raw materials for fertiliser production from certain African countries, Senegal being one of them. The CVC's complaint suggested that Awasthi, as MD, favoured firms that paid a consideration to a company, Catalyst Business Solutions, run by his son Anupam and Amol Awasthi. According to the CVC, Catalyst has offices in several countries-Senegal, the UAE, Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, India and the USA.

The CVC's reference to ED lays out specific allegations. Most of them relate to tax and foreign exchange violations, hence the reference to ed to investigate. They include:

         A tax and foreign exchange fraud to the tune of Rs 5 crore per month for the past seven years. The total amount involved comes to Rs 420 crore.

         Catalyst has no self-acquired business or revenue. It over-bills companies like Industries Chimiques du Senegal (ICS) of Senegal, and then shows a loss to avoid tax.

         Awasthi is involved in money laundering.

         Awasthi earned illegal commission on imports of raw materials and finished fertilisers.

         Awasthi purchased a posh bungalow for himself from cooperative funds.

IFFCO's PR manager, who replied to India Today's email sent to Awasthi, denies any wrongdoing on the part of the IFFCO MD and denies an ED probe is on (see box). His claims, however, run counter to the ED's ongoing investigation. In mid-April, ED Deputy Director Prabhakant wrote to his director, Arun Mathur, on the status of the investigation against Awasthi and others. The contents of the three-page status report FO T-3/Misc/73/2010/AD (RS)/VM, based mostly on the CVC's reference, are extremely damaging for Awasthi. ED sources told India Today, "Detailed investigations are on with foreign enquiries being the bulwark. We continue to focus on Awasthi and his two NRI sons-Amol and Anupam. We are also focusing on companies that his sons have spawned around the world and the contracts that they have signed. We are also looking at IFFCO's procurement patterns vis-a-vis global suppliers."

Earlier, a reference had been made to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to collect documents with relevance to the case. After many reminders, RBI had responded on October 29, 2010 that Catalyst Business Solutions had received 35 inward remittances amounting to over Rs 10 crore between June 2005 and January 2010. Of these remittances, the company reported 29 remittances after the expiry of the 30-day stipulated period in terms of para 9(1)(A) of notification number 20 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The company allotted shares to foreign investors on four occasions but did not report it to RBI in time, that is, within 30 days of the allotment. IFFCO's response to India Today categorically states: "We are not aware of any RBI investigation against Awasthi. We are also not aware of any letter rogatory having been issued to any country."

Based on the information received from the RBI, the ED has decided to dig deeper and also procure additional documents by sending a letter rogatory to Senegal and USA to ascertain facts in its investigation into the matter, a matter once again disputed by IFFCO. Also, a directive has been issued under the provisions of fema to Amol Awasthi, chief operating officer of Catalyst Business Solutions. This was followed by a summons. IFFCO, meanwhile, continues to take refuge behind the plea that the Awasthi siblings have nothing to do with the company.

In response to the ED summons, P.K. Roy, MD of Catalyst, said that Amol Awasthi was an NRI and non-executive director of the company. ED issued summons to his brother Anupam, CEO of the company. The company replied that Anupam was also an NRI.

Documents reveal that Catalyst Business Solutions has received foreign investment and engaged in the import of capital goods and export of services. ED has also recorded the statement of Roy under Section 37 of FEMA with regard to overseas establishments and businesses in and outside India. ED has issued another set of summons to Amol, Anupam and Roy. A notice has also been sent to IFFCO.

ED received a reply from IFFCO which furnished details of imports, remittances sent out of India in the last five years, break-up of wholly owned subsidiaries/joint ventures and details of FDI in the last five years. The documents are under examination. ED's probe has seen directives being issued to the bankers of both Anupam and Amol Awasthi. Replies have been received and these too are being scrutinised. The dragnet is tightening as the ED chases the quarry.

Multi-national re-insurance brokers violate Indian laws

Multinational Insurance brokers are expected to infuse knowledge and expertise into insurance and reinsurance business in India. However, instead of supporting the Indian insurance industry and the Country, multinational brokers have started large-scale alleged cheating and looting the industry and finding ways and means to breach or circumvent Indian laws, insurance experts say.

After the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, (IRDAI) cancelled the license of Wills India - the third largest re-insurance brokers in the world - for financial irregularities; it still continues to do huge business in India - backdoor through Almondz Brokers, India.

Clandestinely all expenses are reimbursed to Almondz by Wills Risk Services India, as it does not need IRDAI clearance to operate or move funds in and out of the country – a clear case of cheating that is challenging the foundation of the IRDAI, the reinsurance experts aver.

To quote a recent example there was a serious fraud committed by Almonds re-insurance Brokers, in Aug 2014, to the tune of Rs.13 Crores. Interestingly, Swan Insurance Company, Singapore paid re-insurance premium to Willis, Singapore, who had to pay to the re-insurer, namely KILN Singapore, for a Trade Credit Insurance.

Surprisingly Willis, Singapore chose to route the re-insurance premium through Almondz Brokers in India. The re-insurance money was required to be paid to KILN Singapore, but it never reached KILN. Almondz had opened a fictitious Bank Account in the name of KILN Global Pte Limited and transferred the money in to that account by using forged documents and siphoned the funds. Technically there is no re-insurance cover since the re-insurance premium was never paid and the client and the insurance company were fooled, the experts who are in the know of things say.

Opening a Bank Account through forged documents by a broker, for that matter by any entity, is a serious criminal offence. The matter was reported to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Economic Offence Wing New Delhi for necessary investigation. The matter was also reported to IRDAI, which had remained a mute spectator till date.

Banking System was thus used for these illegal transactions and there has been no inspection by the RBI, FERA or by IRDAI to know the volume of illegal business done. Being a banned entity, this transaction exposes either the weakness or hand in glove operations of the Regulator, and thus the industry can't depend on the either the Regulations or the Regulator, the experts aver.

Rerouting the Business through this mode, ends the insurer with no re-insurance but given to believe that he had been covered. When the insurer is in Singapore, reinsurer is in Singapore, bank too is in Singapore, there is no reason to route the transaction through India, except to siphon the money, by ulterior motives.

Similarly, Indian operations of Marsh, one of the largest brokers in the world, are under Government scanner for illegally transferring large sums of money out of the country to their overseas companies in low tax regimes. The Enforcement Directorate and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) are now seized of the matter.

Marsh began operations in India seven years ago through the FDI route by investing 26 percent in Marsh India as per the Insurance Regulations. The license fee for the composite broker license is Rs.2.5 Crores which for 26 percent translates to Rs. 65 lakh.

During the first four years, they have transferred out of the country, approximately Rs.40 Crores by way of “service charges” and “risk management fee” to Marsh Overseas operations, primarily in Singapore. This was a serious objection from the Income Tax Department under the “transfer pricing rules” and the matter has simultaneously been referred to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for foreign exchange violations and misuse of the FDI rules. The Indian partner has been cheated of these profits, says insurance experts but the union government chose to turn a blind eye to the large scale fraud, they say.

The Income Tax (IT) department has ordered a penalty of Rs.4.84 Crores and will initiate further legal proceedings against Marsh India Insurance Brokers, a joint venture of US based Marsh USA and Marsh India. Marsh India is facing transfer pricing charges for transferring large sums of money out of India to associate enterprises in low-tax regimes.

The IT department assessed Marsh India’s books for the assessment year 2010-11. During the period, Marsh India had posted an operating income and profit of Rs.62.33 crores and Rs.17.8 crores, respectively, against Rs.52.07 crores turnover in assessment year 2008-09. In assessment year 2010-11 Marsh India reported total income from international transactions are Rs.20.29 crores.

The department said looking from the balance sheet the company was to receive Rs.7.29 crores from debtors, of which Rs.1.53 crores was receivable from its associate enterprises as on March 31, 2010. The department issued a show-cause notice asking why notional interest at 12 percent could not be calculated on the outstanding balance from the associate enterprises.

Marsh India has said “In connection with this query raised by the department, we are working with them to resolve this quickly. In the consulting sector, there is no custom to charge interest on delayed receivables. Unlike a trader, a consultant does not normally have a contractual right to receive interest on delayed receivables.”

Even where a right is available, it has not come across instances where a consultant has charged the client interest on delayed receivables. It is only where the matter travels to the court and the court grants interest that a consultant actually receives such interest. Transfer pricing does not and cannot contemplate an adjustment which would result in a transaction that would be outside the ordinary court of business”.

Another case of cheating was with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation – GSPC. For many years, Marsh India was the broker placing the insurance of the GSPC assets on behalf of Oriental Insurance Company Limited. Two years ago, the management of GSPC decided to transfer the business from them and it was found that there were serious irregularities in the reinsurance made by Marsh India including grossing up the premiums.

Yet the union government and state governments did not wake up from the slumber. GSPC conducted detailed investigations by the ED who have called for all the files from Oriental Insurance Company Limited. GSPC has blacklisted Marsh India from all business. It also reported the matter to the central investigating agencies.

Three years ago Marsh India had messed up with the reinsurance placement of Air India. This had cost Air India and additional Rs20 Crores in premiums and could not recover the claim in full the unfortunate Mangalore air crash.

Marsh India is headed by CEO Sanjay Kedia who is responsible for the closure of JLT operations in India after a large Reliance Industries Limited SBM claim was not resolved due to incorrect reinsurance placement. The matter is in the courts and Oriental Insurance and New India have joint liability in excess of Rs.1000 Crores.

Strangely, JLT plans to return to the Indian market through another source although this huge money is due to India by foreign companies through the intermediary of JLT. Sanjay Kedia is known over the years for paying large sum of money to the PSU Insurance Companies namely, Oriental Insurance, New India Assurance, National Insurance, united India Insurance and GIC.

Similarly, it is learnt that Aon, one of the largest broker in the world, has taken more than 26 percent holding in the Indian joint venture against the Insurance Regulations. The matter was referred to IRDAI by FIB and ED and action from IRDAI is still pending.

IRDAI is taking serious action against such grave violation of the law by these large multinational brokers, who seem to simply want to take advantage of the Government regulations for their selfish benefits and urgent action is required to stop this blatant plundering of the country at cost of domestic insurance.

Experts say that Union Finance Ministry should step in at least now to stem the rot before it becomes too unwieldy and goes out of hands and ruin the Indian economy.

How does it affect the Indian economy?

Insurance experts aver that when the economy is opened for capital inflow through FDI, money is siphoned out of the country, through these means, with total disregard to the law of the land.

Total loss of money to the Government is yet to be estimated and if this goes unchecked India will become like Bermuda or Mauritius. Insurance Regulator, if equipped with powers of Government through the new insurance bill, and if the Regulator turns blind or is not aware of these type of transactions, the entire insurance industry will collapse because, the transaction relates to not for insurance but to “re-insurance.”

The overseas entity, if allowed to get into these type of transactions, the entire broking system would collapse. If the Regulator either allows by remaining mute or the Regulator has no clue of what is happening, the entire insurance business will be in jeopardy. Also, these foreign entities, use regulators silence to these grave issues, even after repeated reminders from various lobby, as not just an opportunity, but the correct way to do illegal business and enrich through illegal means.

The Rs 6,500-Crore Mystery At Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited

By PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA AND JYOTIRMOY CHAUDHURI | 4 February 2015

Some financial transactions attract attention because of the scale and nature of the irregularities being brought to light. Others may warrant scrutiny because of the profile of the people involved. The case in this article deserves close examination on both counts. The protagonist of this tale is India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India’s biggest private corporate conglomerate. The supporting character is a former Indian National Congress member of parliament associated with the Reliance Group, Annu Tandon.

On the sidelines are unnamed executives from the overseas wing of one of India’s biggest private sector banks, ICICI (formerly the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) Bank. The plot also includes officials from two regulatory authorities, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank and apex monetary authority, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for enforcing the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) of 1999.

It was on 19 July 2013, about a year and a half ago, that the ED wrote to the RBI, seeking its advice on the legality of a loan of Rs 6,530.36 crore that was granted by an overseas branch of ICICI bank to a now-defunct firm called Biometrix Marketing Pte Ltd that was based in Singapore and associated with the Reliance Group. Curiously, this money, given in the form of a loan, later returned to India—as alleged by First Secretary (Economic) GT Venkateswara Rao of the Indian High Commision in Singapore in the investigation he conducted on investments made by Biometrix in Reliance Group companies—as foreign direct investment (FDI) through the issuance of certain financial instruments called compulsorily convertible preferential shares (CCPS) by Biometrix in four Reliance Group companies—Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure, Relogistics Infrastructure, Reliance Ports and Reliance Utilities. This investment was the highest inflow of FDI into India during 2007–08 from a single corporate entity based in Singapore.

Senior officials of the ED have said that, since the letter was written, Annu Tandon and other senior figures connected with RIL have been questioned about the transactions relating to Biometrix and their statements have been recorded.

Rao's investigation into Biometrix's investments was first suggested in July 2011 by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in the Union Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which is responsible for formulating and enforcing policies on FDI. The investigation was thereafter conducted by the High Commission of India in Singapore, which resulted in the preparation of a “commercial intelligence report” dated 31 August 2011.

The report pointed out that the records of Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) indicated that Biometrix was a holding company registered in Singapore. A company called Strasbourg Holdings Private Limited held 91 percent of Biometrix. Strasbourg is incorporated in Singapore and is owned by Atul Shantikumar Dayal, a legal expert with AS Dayal & Associates, Mumbai, who has been of particular assistance to the Reliance Group in some of its recent arbitration cases against agencies of the Indian government, and who is also a director of a few Reliance Group companies.

The remaining 9 percent of Biometrix’s shares were held by Reliance GeneMedix Plc, a company registered in London and a subsidiary of Reliance Life Sciences Private Limited (RLSPL). Biometrix was earlier called Orna Pte Ltd, and its principal activities are described as “acting as a holding company and consultancy.”

Many India-based corporate conglomerates, in particular the Reliance Group, maintain a complex structure of cross-holdings of shares among subsidiary and associate companies. Theoretically, these cross-holdings are perfectly legal. However, the patterns of shareholdings of these companies are often made deliberately complex to make it difficult for regulatory authorities to lift the corporate veil and establish the identities of the beneficiaries. If their identities are obfuscated, it makes it cumbersome to establish an audit trail to track the flow of funds. This case, in particular, appears to use a set of such complex control structures.

Right now, the dispute is stuck at a preliminary stage. Two formal letters that were sent by the joint director of the ED on 21 and 22 May 2013, elicited only a single reply, dated 19 July 2013, from Divya P, a manager in the foreign exchange department in the central office of the overseas investment division of the RBI in Mumbai. In its reply, the RBI stated that borrowings by an “overseas WOS (wholly owned subsidiary) / JV (joint-venture), (a) first level step down subsidiary or subsidiaries beyond first level, with support from the Indian party for purposes of investment back into India” was not a “bona fide business activity as per FEMA guidelines framed in 2004.” The country’s central bank added that the case was being examined by officials in the RBI’s Department of Banking Operations and Development and that the apex bank would respond to the ED in due course.

Representatives of the Reliance Group have claimed to the ED that the investments should not be treated as FDI but as an external commercial borrowing (ECB). If the investment is indeed an ECB, this would put Reliance in the clear and in compliance with the RBI and provisions of FEMA. This is the crux of the dispute. Did the money return from Singapore to India as FDI or as an ECB?

If the money did indeed return from Singapore as an FDI, then there is reason to pay attention to the possible source of these funds. Prashant Bhushan, a lawyer and founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) offered an interesting explanation to this question at a press conference, which we will come to later in this article. In June 2011, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, had made note of anomalies in the capital cost of the RIL natural gas project in the D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari (KG). The CAG’s report stated that Reliance had over-invoiced their imports of capital equipment during the project. Taking off from this report, Bhushan alleged that the funds transferred from Biometrix had been illegally obtained through RIL’s fudging of its imports.

To begin with, the mammoth investments, amounting to Rs 6,530.36 crore came from companies—Biometrix and Strasbourg—which had relatively small equity capital bases. Biometrix was set up with an equity capital of 110,000 Singapore dollars—or approximately Rs 29 lakh—and operated out of “just one room, which was closed most of the time.” Rao’s report added that the premises where Strasbourg was registered was occupied by another firm named Rikvin (about which, too, more interesting information will follow). Filings with ACRA, reviewed by the Business Standard indicated that between May 2007 and September 2008, Biometrix made a loss of Rs 400 crore on a revenue of 121,433 Singapore dollars (approximately Rs 32 lakh). Its total liabilities to equity ratio was an improbable 4,637 because it had obtained a $1.7 billion Singapore-dollar loan with a capital of 110,000 Singapore dollars (approximately Rs 29 lakh). ACRA’s records show that Biometrix has been dissolved and that its members voluntarily wound up the company. Business Standard also reported that the loan obtained by Biometrix had been paid off.

Rao’s investigations through the High Commission of India in Singapore point to several suspicious facts that deem this case worthy of close scrutiny.

He also stated that it was highly probable that the funds shown as loans from Singapore or other “tax heavens” [sic] returned through a “circuitous route” to companies whose owners were in India. Therefore, he argued, the source of the money needed to be ascertained.

On 22 June 2012, M Furquan, a Delhi-based journalist, wrote to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asking the two agencies to investigate whether or not the transactions were legal. His allegation was based on certain documents—including first secretary Rao’s report from August 2011—that he claimed to have received from a reliable source through registered post. After he received no response from either the CVC or the CBI, he filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court on 17 November 2012.

Furquan pointed out that during the period between March 2007 and October 2008, RIL's warrants worth Rs 16,500 crore were converted into equity shares by Reliance Utilities Private Limited, Reliance Ports & Terminals Limited, Relogistics Infrastructure Limited and Reliance Gas Transportation Limited as per the records of the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. The holder of a warrant can purchase securities, usually equity shares, from the issuer at a specific price within a certain time frame. Furquan’s petition alleges that the money required for converting RIL’s warrants into shares by the four RIL subsidiaries came from none other than RIL itself as none of the four subsidiaries had shown a commensurate amount of external or bank borrowing and neither did they have any influx of income of such magnitude.

He alleged that part of this money came into RIL in the form of a loan of $1.7 billion Singapore dollars—approximately Rs 6,500 crore at the time—from Biometrix, which was “shown as subscription money for preference shares (CCPS) [compulsorily convertible preferential shares] issued by Reliance Utilities Private Limited, Reliance Ports & Terminals Limited, Relogistics Infrastructure Limited & Reliance Gas Transportation Limited.”  This means that Biometrix raised the money from ICICI on the ground that it sought to buy CCPS shares issued by the four subsidiaries.

Furquan subsequently claimed that, after his petition was filed in court, Swatantra Kumar, Director General, Income Tax (Investigation), who was based in Mumbai, had commenced a probe into the transactions relating to Biometrix and companies in the Reliance Group. However, Kumar was suddenly transferred to Chandigarh in December 2012. The case itself is still pending in the Delhi High Court.

We were able to gain access to the documents submitted by Furquan in court. Among these is a letter written by LV Merchant, Director, RLSPL, to MG Attri, Assistant Director, ED, on 14 August 2012 which makes the holding structure of Biometrix and its relationship with RIL extremely clear.

The letter states that 49 percent of the shares of Reliance Holding Netherlands BV (RHBV), Netherlands, were held by Reliance Clinical Research Services Pvt Ltd (RCRS), which is a subsidiary of Reliance Life Sciences Pvt Ltd (RLSPL). The remaining 51 percent was held by RLSPL. In 2006, RHBV acquired 79.58 percent of GeneMedix Plc—a company listed on a stock exchange in London—with the balance being held by public shareholders. GeneMedix acquired Biometrix in 2007, thus making it an “indirect subsidiary” of RLSPL.

Biometrix’s loan from ICICI Bank was taken under a “Put and Call Option Agreement” with Ekansha Enterprises Private Limited, a group company of RLSPL. An option agreement between two companies—in this case between Biometrix and Ekansha—provides either of the two firms with the right, but not the obligation, to buy, sell or obtain a specific asset at an agreed upon price at some time in the future.

Between 2006 and 2008, when the transactions involving Biometrix took place, Atul Shantikumar Dayal was a director of thirty-two companies, quite a few of which were part of the Reliance Group, including Reliance Power Ventures Ltd, Reliance Enterprises Ltd, Reliance Petroleum Ltd, Ekansha Enterprises Pvt Ltd and Strasbourg Holdings. As mentioned earlier, Dayal is reportedly a close adviser to the Reliance Group on corporate law, indirect taxation and, notably, international commercial contracts. According to the ED report, Strasbourg Holdings was acquired from Dayal by the late Sandeep Tandon, husband to Annu Tandon. The acquisition was made through a remittance of US$100,000 (approximately Rs 48 lakh) to Singapore under the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) of the RBI that was announced in February 2004. Under the LRS at that time, resident Indians were allowed to remit up to $125,000 (approximately Rs 60 lakh) in each financial year for any permitted capital and/or current account transaction or a combination of both.

Sandeep Tandon was a former officer of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) who used to work in the ED. He had conducted an investigation into foreign companies floated by Reliance while he was in the Directorate. He had raided the residence of Tina Ambani (nee Munim) before her marriage in February 1992 to Anil Ambani, the younger and now estranged brother of Mukesh Ambani. Soon thereafter, Sandeep Tandon joined RIL in 1994 as a consultant. His wife, Annu Tandon, was elected as the Lok Sabha MP from Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, in the 2009 elections. An unlikely candidate with no previous political experience, she claimed a surprise victory and won by a large margin of 32,092 votes, defeating her rivals from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Annu was managing director of MoTech Software Ltd., which had been promoted by Mukesh Ambani. In 2007, MoTech was one of twelve entities that came under the scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) over charges of insider trading in the shares of Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL). On 3 January 2008, two months after the RPL transactions, she resigned from her position, citing her decision to contest elections from Uttar Pradesh as the reason.

At the time, there was speculation in the media that seat-sharing talks between the Congress and SP in Uttar Pradesh fell through because of the Congress’s insistence on Annu Tandon’s candidature. The Hindu on 30 April 2009 hinted that her husband’s allegiance to Mukesh Ambani was a reason for the SP to walk away from the alliance. The SP, as was widely known, was closer to the younger Ambani sibling, Anil, when the brothers crossed swords over the division of the Reliance empire. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Annu Tandon stood for election again, but came fourth, barely retaining her deposit with 16 percent of the votes.

In his commercial intelligence report, First Secretary Rao of the Indian High Commission in Singapore pointed out that another company called Rikvin was located at the same Cecil Street address as Strasbourg Holdings. This company had an equity capital of 110,000 Singapore dollars (approximately Rs 29 lakh), and its only shareholder was Dayal who held the entire 125,000 Singapore dollars (approximately Rs 33 lakh) paid-up share capital of the company. Rikvin had another director—Shalin Narain Tandon—who, however, did not own any shares in the company. Shalin is, incidentally, the son of Annu and the late Sandeep Tandon.

Shalin is also the vice president of the group’s flagship company RIL. Additionally, he is on the board of Ekansha Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, which in turn, is associated with two companies linked to RIL—Reliance Consolidated Holdings Pvt. Ltd and Relcom Venture Capital Pvt. Ltd.

The senior officials in the ED have said that both Shalin and Annu Tandon, as well as Dayal have been questioned. The RBI is yet to respond to the ED’s query on whether certain transactions by RIL violate the provisions of FEMA.

Both the Reliance Group companies—Strasbourg and Ekansha—applied to the RBI for compounding for their violation of the FEMA act as noted by the RBI. Ekansha paid Rs 19.59 crore to the RBI as the fee for compounding. An application on behalf of the late Sandeep Tandon, for Strasbourg, is still pending with the RBI.

We contacted RIL, Dayal and Tandon for comment, but our questions went unanswered.

If the RBI confirms that the transaction was illegal, the ED can proceed against the Reliance Group companies either through a process of adjudication through the special directorate of the ED, or through the RBI by compounding the offence. The RBI incidentally has the power to lower the compounding award given by the ED.

Information about this unusual transfer of funds was brought into the public domain for the first time by Prashant Bhushan at a media conference on 27 February 2014. Bhushan pointed out that the Indian High Commission in Singapore had made enquiries about Biometrix following a request by the DIPP in 2011, but the government had failed to act on the information provided, even after three years.

After Bhushan’s conference, RIL released a press statement in which it denied that its legal adviser, Dayal, was either the owner or the director of Biometrix. With reference to the loan given by the Singapore company, RIL stated:

The investments by Biometrix were open, transparent and perfectly legitimate transactions in full compliance with the extant regulations. These investments in the Indian companies were made by Biometrix out of loans raised from ICICI Bank, Singapore branch. ICICI Bank has confirmed this fact to the regulators. Regulatory authorities have fully investigated the matter and found no substance in the allegations of money laundering. The insinuation that this money was from “gold plating” from KG-D6 is completely irresponsible and false.

Bhushan, in a letter dated 8 July 2014, to the Special Investigation Team on black money—formed by the government on the orders of the Supreme Court—alleged that the government “has just sat over these facts [relating to Biometrix] for … three years now,” and that the government “has not bothered to investigate this case of money laundering, perhaps because powerful entities like Reliance are involved.”

On 23 July 2014, Bhushan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking, “why would a bank give such a large loan to a post box company with no known assets and source of income? Given the fact that the CAG [Comptroller and Auditor General] report has already indicted Reliance for over-invoicing and siphoning out money from the KG-D6 contract, isn’t it highly likely that the Rs 6,500 crore was in fact money siphoned out of the country by Reliance from the KG-D6 contract, or dealing with the government, and which was being brought back by way of an investment by a shell company?”

Bhushan enclosed with his letter Rao’s commercial intelligence report, which stated: “The equity of both the investing companies—Biometrix and Strasbourg—from Singapore is very small compared to the amount invested; both the companies have claimed exemption from filing annual accounts to the Singapore regulator stating that the income is small. If the income was small, the question arises about the source of such huge amounts were [sic] raised.”

Why is the RBI dragging its feet in answering the ED as to whether the complicated maze of transactions relating to these companies violated the provisions of the law? Is this is a case of money laundering? How can the foreign associate of an Indian bank lend money to a firm that uses the funds to purchase financial instruments of companies that are associated with the parent company in India? These questions remain unanswered. The last is yet to be heard on this subject.

Frauds ripped public sector banks of Rs 23,000 crore

Public sector banks have cumulatively lost a massive sum of Rs 22,743 crore due to cheating and forgery in the last three years alone, HT has found through a right to information RTI) reply.

Indian Overseas Bank is the worst hit with a loss of Rs 3,200 cores as against State Bank of India (SBI) which lost Rs 2,712 crore. Between April 2010 and September 2013, the number of bank fraud cases has shown a slight decrease yearly but the amount of money lost has been increasing year on year.

The number of fraud cases, for instance, came down to 2996 in April 2012 to March 13, from 3748 in April 2010 to March 2011, but the amount shot up to Rs 10179.42 crore from Rs 3275 crore.

The Reserve bank of India (RBI) issued detailed instructions to banks on July 2, 2012 containing details related to how banks should examine fraud cases and report them to CBI, the police and the special fraud investigation office (SFIO). Even after this, the money lost in fraud cases have increased.

Interestingly, by way of comparison, Indian Overseas Bank lost more to fraud than it earned in profits. It registered a net profit of 2848 crore between 2010 and 2013 but leaked Rs 3200 crore for the same period.

For SBI, the blow was cushioned. It registered a profit of Rs 39692 crore between April 2010 and September 2013. In the corresponding period, the bank lost Rs 2712 crores to fraud.

As per the documents available, more than 6000 employees of different banks are under the scanner for involvement in these cases. These are not just lower or mid-level employees, but in some cases, CMDs and directors of different banks. For Instance, in May 2013, a CBI special judge convicted M Gopalakrishnan, former Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Indian Bank, Chennai as he had sanctioned credit facilities of huge amounts to a company without sufficient securities and also by surpassing the rules of the bank.

Analysis of cases investigated by the CBI reveal that bankers sometimes exceed their discretionary powers and give loans to unscrupulous borrowers on fake or forged documents. After getting the money, the borrower escapes causing huge loses to the banks.

While loans on forged documents are the main component of these losses, there are other reasons too. Ashvin Parekh, National Leader, Global financial services, EY, said, “The increase in alternate channels including internet banking and even use of ATMs which has reduced as human interface with the customer and banks has led to an increase in fraudulent activities.”

“We have already taken corrective measures to ensure preventive vigilance. Policy tightening is also being undertaken,” said M Narendra, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Overseas Bank. He also added that adequate training is being provided to the staff and the bank is ‘fine-tuning operations aspects’. Canara Bank, UCO Bank and United Bank did not respond despite numerous reminders.

A senior official at SBI said the amount is a cumulative one. “In the last one year several stringent measures of checks and balances have been put in place and in the last one year the number of cases has substantially come down,” the official, who did not wish to be identified, said.

In a year, bank frauds doubled in India: RTI query reveals

By Gangadhar S Patil

In May 2015, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up a Central Fraud Registry to check growing bank fraud. After this, the Prime Minister’s Office called a meeting to review the fraud-detection system, a clear indication that the government was worried.

It was more than just a bunch of bounced cheques.

The media reported the move, but largely laid the blame on the rise in bank non-performing assets (NPA), loans in danger of default.

Now, data obtained by OnlineRTI.com, a Bangalore-based startup helping citizens file queries under the Right-to-Information (RTI) Act, via the RTI reveals that NPAs are not entirely to blame.

NPAs did rise 23% between 2013-14 and 2014-15, threatening India’s banking system, but it is also true that in the year since Narendra Modi’s government took charge, there has been a 100% increase in bank fraud (as per RBI data). Indeed, this is why the RBI set up the fraud registry and why the PMO reviewed the fraud-detection system.

Over the year since Modi’s government took office, the amount involved in bank fraud rose from Rs 10,170 crore ($1.6 billion) in the fiscal year 2013-14 to Rs 19,361 crore ($3 billion) in 2014-15, i.e. nearly 100%.

The fraud ranged from cheque alteration to fake loans, debit/credit card fraud to cyber fraud.

Maharashtra and West Bengal lead the way in bank fraud

The spike is mainly because of a multi-fold increase in cases of fraud recorded by banks in Maharashtra and West Bengal, both states accounting for more than 50% of the total loss through fraud.

While banks in Maharashtra saw a 150% increase in fraud, from Rs 2,445 crore in 2013-14 ($376 million) to Rs 6,115 crore in 2014-15 ($940 million), banks in West Bengal notched a six-fold increase in fraud, from Rs 773 crore ($118 million) to Rs 5,930 crore ($912 million).

The RBI has been able to close only 30% of these cases every year.

Public-sector banks appear to have borne the brunt of the fraud-spike, with the Punjab National Bank, which lost a sum of Rs 2,310 crore ($355 million), topping the list, followed by the Central Bank of India, where the lost amount stands at Rs 2,150 crore ($330 million), the data further reveal. Both banks recorded a fraud increase of more than 200%.

Top frauds in 2014-15 (figures in crores)
Punjab National Bank, 2309.7313
Central Bank of India, 2149.718
State Bank of India, 1601.0372
UCO Bank, 1410.9772
Bank of Baroda, 1186.676
Corporation Bank, 1222.0934
Indian Overseas Bank, 574.3611
Oriental Bank of Commerce, 764.8375
IDBI Bank Limited, 557.951
United Bank of India, 680.3515
Union Bank of India, 362.8029
Syndicate Bank, 793.1045
ICICI Bank Ltd., 268.8547
Allahabad Bank, 75.9764
Canara Bank, 177.2872

Experts are confounded why bank fraud has risen in West Bengal. While some believe more cases of fraud were reported, others said the increase in banking transactions could be responsible.

A“thorough probe” is needed to to explain the sudden rise in banking fraud in West Bengal, said Rajesh Goyal, a former banker and founder of allbankingsolution.com, a banking watchdog portal.

“The increase in fraud in the case of PNB is phenomenal and could be either because the figures are wrong or these were cases suppressed in earlier years but reported only now,” said Goyal. “Public-sector banks have never shown urgency to unravel the root causes of these [cases of fraud] or to find the modus operandi of the fraudsters. Soon after a probe is initiated, banks stop investigation with the plea that no further leads are available.”

The government should fast track such cases because they involve direct cheating or siphoning of the public money, said the All India Bank Employees Association’s general secretary Viswas Utagi.

Public-sector banks handle fraud better than private banks

Contrary to popular belief, public-sector banks have actually handled fraud better than private banks.

Despite a market share of 30%, private banks collectively account for around 40% of losses from bank fraud. India has 20 private banks, 26 public-sector banks and 30 foreign banks.

Private bank losses from bank fraud

A RBI circular issued in July said that when banks discovered fraud, they were to report cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the police or to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office.

In some cases, bank staff were involved: 47 such cases of fraud, valued at Rs 177 crore, were detected during 2014-15, according to data submitted to Parliament.

When staff are involved, bank have always tried to suppress fraud and categorise them as NPAs (to show they were business loses), alleged Utagi.

NPAs, the fig leaf behind which fraud hides, soared 23% from Rs 2,51,060 crore ($38 billion) in March 2014 to Rs 3,09,409 crore ($48 billion) in March 2015, according to a statement in Parliament this July by Minister Of State (Finance) Jayant Sinha.

 

Editorial :  RBI  Governor  Corrupt ? Terror Links ?

CORPORATE CRIMINALS /  CORPORATE TERRORISTS /  TAX THIEVES  RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL ILLS IN INDIA

Inspite  of repeated requests since years  , RTI appeals  to RBI Governor  , he is not divulging information , answering questions concerning financial crimes. He is not even accepting our  conditional offer  to  book corporate criminals. Union & state finance ministers are also mum.  They are not doing their duties properly , keeping mum either for benefit , or favour  or fear.

The fraud money is finding it’s way to underworld , terror outfits & anti nationals. As a result  corporate criminals are roaming free  and continuing with more crimes.  The money  involved is public money , not papa’s money of any bankers or public servants.

This  proves RBI Governor , Union Finance minister  and state finance ministers are shielding corporate criminals and  facilitating them to  aid terrorists , mafia , under world  &  anti nationals.

In India , a small shop owner to big industrialist have mastered the art of TAX EVASION . their teachers - some corrupt tax officials & auditors. The black money thus created
is causing inflation, feeding the mafia , underworld. Some industrialists lobby ( bribe ) with the government & gets favourable laws enacted. This black money is the main source of funds for political parties , religious bodies & terrorist outfits.

The recent raids by C.B.I & KARNATAKA LOKAYUKTHA have proved how the tax officials have become multi-millionaires. The sad part is that some of the police officials who are on deputation to C.B.I & LOKAYUKTHA themselves are utterly corrupt.

This scourge can only be cured by corporate accountability intoto. However , all the industrialists , traders who are demanding for more flexible labour reforms , economic reforms , infrastructure , etc are not at all concerned about their own accountability with respect to tax , environment , other laws. The MNCs coming to India are not coming here for best Indian talents or infrastructure alone. In their own countries they are feeling the
heat of strict environment laws , consumer laws , share holder disclosures , corporate accountability. Some of these MNCs are being kicked out of their countries , by it's own people .These MNCs are aware that in India , by greasing the palms environment laws , labour laws , tax laws , etc everything can be flouted , cases in courts can be dragged on for years . share holder disclosures , corporate transparency is minimum.

However when a concerned citizen complains about the crimes of guilty corporates , organizations or corrupt public servants , immediate action is not taken. The file is kept pending for months , years together  , allowing the criminals to manipulate all the evidences , records , ground situations. Finally even if action is taken guilty will be let out due to favorable  evidences , there are chances that the concerned citizen himself is falsely implicated & put behind bars . in all such cases all the involved parties must be subjected to lie detector tests .

Bottomline : development is a must , it must be all around . but not at the cost of majority to make a few richer.

 Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

Your’s sincerely,

Nagaraja.M.R.

 

 

Syndicate Bank scam: CBI tracks mastermind's nexus with corporates

 

The scam has grown to involve all of an alleged Rs 8,000 crore of sanctioned loans from the piffling two or three it started with.

 

The more they dig the bigger it gets. The bribe-for-loan scandal is literally exploding in the Central Bureau of Investigation's hands as it wades through documents related to the deals and analyses phone intercepts that nailed Syndicate Bank Chairman and Managing Director S.K. Jain.

The scam has grown to involve all of an alleged Rs 8,000 crore of sanctioned loans from the piffling two or three it started with.

The breakthrough for the CBI was its arrest of Jain along with a chartered accountant called Pawan Bansal acting as middleman for deals between the Syndicate Bank chief and companies looking for large loans. As the bureau dug deeper, it uncovered a well-oiled nexus in operation: bribes to the heads of public sector banks and financial institutions for loans in return.

Top sources said Bansal is alleged to be the mastermind of this scandal.

The scope of investigation is likely to widen beyond the Syndicate Bank case as the agency is looking into allegations that Bansal struck deals worth over Rs 8,000 crore with other banks. The CBI is in possession of documents and phone intercepts indicating that Bansal got loans for companies from UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Canara Bank.

Loans worth Rs 6,500 crore sanctioned by UCO Bank and the Bank of Maharashtra where Bansal is alleged to have lobbied for several companies paying bribes to top bank officials are also under the CBI's scanner now.

 

Some of the loans allegedly sanctioned at Bansal's behest include a loan of Rs 600 crore to Era Infra, Rs 500 crore to Tayal Group, and Rs 1,300 crore to Arshiya International. The Bank of Maharashta allegedly sanctioned Rs 200 crore to Era Infra, Rs 400 crore to SEL Manufacturing and Rs 200 crore to Shiv Vani Group.

In many cases, these loans became non-performing assets, forcing banks to go in for corporate debt restructuring.

CBI sources said to understand the entire scam they need to analyse all these cases. "We need to establish that Bansal paid bribes to bank officials to get these loans passed as has been done in the Syndicate Bank case. Our efforts to establish the money trails are on," said a CBI officer.

Sources said Bansal uses his firm Altius Finserv Limited as a front to collect fees from various companies who paid him to get the loans sanctioned, and a part of this money was then passed on to bank officials. The CBI's First Information Report in the Syndicate Bank case clearly states that Bansal is in touch with heads of several heads of public sector banks and acts as a middleman.

 "It has been learnt that Shri Pawan Bansal regularly meets these bank officials for pursuing the loan proposals prepared and processed by his firm on behalf of his clients," the FIR states. Bansal who functions from his offices at Mumbai's tony Nariman Point and the upmarket Barakhamba Road in New Delhi is said to be a soft-spoken and smooth operator who uses his personal influence on bank officials.

Knowing his clout over senior officials in banks, business houses submit their loan proposals through his firm on the pretext of providing various financial services like credit solutions, debt capital market and investment banking.

The investigation could expose one of the biggest corruption scandals in public sector banking if the CBI can get to the bottom of the conspiracy where Bansal seems to be the key player. The CBI has several incriminating intercepts of conversations between Bansal and others involved. More cases could be registered if there is prima facie evidence and the role of Bansal is being scrutinised to unearth the entire scam.

 

Write-offs a scam, small loans rarely in it, says former RBI Deputy Governor

Public sector banks have written off Rs 1,14,000 crore in the last three years, as reported in The Indian Express on February 8, based on a response by the Reserve Bank of India to an RTI application.

Former Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Dr K C Chakrabarty says technical write-offs by banks is a “scam” and should be stopped.

“Technical write-offs by Indian banks are inequitable and should be stopped. It is a big scam. Small loans are rarely written off, most of them are big loans,” London-based Chakrabarty, who handled the supervision department of the RBI from 2009 to 2014, told The Indian Express.

Public sector banks have written off Rs 1,14,000 crore in the last three years, as reported in The Indian Express on February 8, based on a response by the Reserve Bank of India to an RTI application.

Banks are planning to write off more bad loans in the current year, and this could be Rs 52,227 crore, similar to the quantum written off in 2014-15.

There’s a reason for the eagerness on the part of banks to write off loans though a loan is technically the bank’s asset. “It benefits banks in terms of tax liability,” M Narendra, former chairman and MD of Indian Overseas Bank, said. The other benefit is that the bad loan no longer stays in the bank’s books.

The write-off instruction comes from the head office.

“Technical or prudential write-off is the amount of non-performing loans which are outstanding in the books of the branches, but have been written off (fully or partially) at the head office level. Amount of technical write-off should be certified by statutory auditors,” says the RBI’s master circular on income recognition and asset classification.

“Banks should either make full provision as per the guidelines or write­ off such advances and claim such tax benefits as are applicable, by evolving appropriate methodology in consultation with their auditors/tax consultants. Recoveries made in such accounts should be offered for tax purposes as per rules,” the RBI says.

Narendra said, “Write-off happens when a loan becomes non-recoverable or dead asset. It’s done after making 100 per cent provisioning. The bank continues its recovery measures even after the write-off.”

Non-performing assets (NPAs) reflect poorly on the bank and they are eager to write it off or remove it from the balance sheet and reduce the tax liability.

According to a former government official, some banks write off accounts to sell them to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) at lower prices and make easy money out of it. Banks don’t want to take on the tedious recovery process. Selling the assets to ARCs is a quick-fix solution for banks. “In some cases, bank officials cut sweet deals with the promoter of defaulting companies to write off loans,” the official said.

“There’s lack of vision to manage the NPA accounts among bank managements. There’s also lack of direction on the part of the Reserve Bank. What’s happening in PSU banks doesn’t get noticed. The attitude of borrowers is also changing on the issue of repayment. Many of them inflate the cost of the project. Valuers empanelled with the banks also go by that valuation,” Ramnath Pradeep, former chairman and MD of Corporation Bank, said. “I have seen some of the banks in a consortium writing off loans while others don’t do it. There’s no uniformity in their approach.”

If it is the head office of a bank that approves write-offs, loans are sanctioned by a credit approval committee comprising the chairman, executive directors and the general managers of a bank. This mechanism was put in place through a 2012 directive by the Finance Ministry. These committees can approve credit proposals up to Rs 400 crore in the case of Category A banks and Rs 250 crore in the case of other PSU banks. If the loan proposal is above this limit, it has to be vetted by the board committee. Often, the board clears the proposal put across by the management without much discussion. Small PSU banks blindly follow the decisions of bigger banks without going for any due diligence on their own, a government source said.

Boards of public sector banks have senior officials from the government as well as the RBI on their boards. “The irony of NPAs of PSU banks is that they have happened right under the nose of RBI officers who are on the boards of PSU banks. Thus, in a way the RBI becomes directly responsible for the banks’ decisions on credits that became NPAs,” K K Srinivasan, former Member (Life) of the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India, said.

For instance, Financial Services Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal and Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Dr Urjit R Patel are on the SBI board. Rajesh Aggarwal, Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, is a Director on the board of Punjab National Bank. B P Kanungo, who was Regional Director of the RBI in Kolkata, is also on the board of PNB.

In Bank of India, Anna Roy, Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, is the government nominee while S S Barik, Regional Director of RBI, North Eastern States, is the RBI nominee on the board. Alok Pande, Director in the Department of Financial Services, and Nirmal Chand, Regional Director of RBI, Thiruvananthapuram, are on the board of Indian Overseas Bank.

“A regulator should not be a part of the apex business decision-making body (board of directors) of regulated entities. This position needs to be rectified if the RBI is to be absolved of the responsibility of NPAs of PSU banks,” Srinivasan said. This will require the RBI to withdraw its nominees from 27 PSU bank boards.

Wilful defaulters owe Rs 10,869 cr to PNB; top 10 firms make up one-third

 

Gross non-performing assets, or bad loans, are expected to jump 31.48 per cent in the fiscal ending March 2016 to Rs 426,400 crore from Rs 324,300 crore.

 

State-owned Punjab National Bank on Monday published the details of 904 wilful defaulters who collectively owe over Rs 10,869 crore to the bank as on December 15, 2015 up 18 per cent from September 15, 2015.

Some of the prominent defaulters who figure in the list include Winsome Diamond and Jewellery Ltd (Rs 900.37 crore) and its arm Forever Precious Jewellery and Diamonds (Rs747.98 crore), Zoom Developers Pvt Ltd (Rs410.18), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) (Rs 224.26 crore), Suryavinayak Industries Ltd and its subsidiary (Rs 172 crore), S Kumar Nationwide (Rs 146.82 crore) and Century Communication Ltd and its subsidiaries (Rs 111 crore).

Winsome Diamonds and three other wilful defaulters — Zoom Developers, Suryavinayak Industries Ltd and Century Communication Ltd have been named in the list of top ten defaulters in India by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In fact in April 2015, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan wrote to the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) seeking “concerted” action against the top 10 bank loan defaulters. Since then these companies have been under the scanner of multiple investigating agencies in the country. In some cases the CBI and the enforcement directorate has attached the properties of the defaulters.

On February 8, The Indian Express reported that 29 public sector banks have written off Rs 1,14,000 crore in the last three years, according to a response by the Reserve Bank of India to an RTI application. Loan write-offs in the first half of 2015-16 were Rs 25,000 crore. With this, banks would have written off Rs 277,400 crore in the last ten years with more than half the write-offs happening in the last three years. Gross non-performing assets, or bad loans, are expected to jump 31.48 per cent in the fiscal ending March 2016 to Rs 426,400 crore from Rs 324,300 crore

Why India’s Private Banks Are Laughing All the Way to the … Bank

Everyone knows public sector banks are less profitable, more prone to political influence and have higher ratios of non-performing assets (NPAs) than their private sector counterparts. In contrast, new private sector banks, set up post 1991, are media and stock market darlings. Most analysts tend not to mention that public sector banks carry the main burden of the government’s developmental policies — from rural lending to infrastructural development and now the Jan Dhan Yojana. Rather, the private sector’s better profits are taken as a sign of superior management.

Government banks are rightly criticised for their poor credit management and corruption. But who remembers the private banks that faltered and were merged with other banks? Global Trust Bank, established in 1994, was involved in the 2001 Ketan Parikh-managed stock scam that resulted in losses of Rs 1,000 crores. These were finally borne by the majority government-owned Oriental Bank of Commerce in 2004. Other banks like Times Bank, Centurion Bank and Bank of Punjab were ultimately merged with HDFC Bank as their promoters lost interest or ran into difficulties.

Glimpse behind the veil

The new private sector banks pride themselves on their low reported NPAs and attribute this to their superior credit skills. As in the normal course of business, banking secrecy laws do not permit the disclosure of clients, the reported NPAs are the only public indicator of the bank’s credit risk management. However in 2013, Deccan Chronicle Holdings became a celebrity fraud case and the banking industry’s exposure was made public. Interestingly, in this high risk company, as compared to Canara Bank’s Rs Rs 347 crores and IDBI Bank’s Rs 263 crores exposure, ICICI Bank had Rs490 crores, Axis Bank Rs400 crores, Yes Bank Rs194 crores and Indusind Bank and Kotak Bank Rs100 crores each. In this particular case, not only did new private sector banks have exposures but two of them had lent the highest to the company.

Private banks appear to enjoy a charmed regulatory environment. In May 2013, an investigation by the online media firm,Cobrapost, showed officials of both private and government banks soliciting clients for laundering black money and offering bank lockers to store the black money. The sting videos revealed these practices to be so widespread, even systemic, and not the work of rogue employees. Rajiv Takru, the then Union banking secretary, remarked in an interview with CNBC-TV on 14 March 2013, “What worries me about the whole thing, everybody in these sting operations is coming out with a same kind of response, although it is carried out at a number of places. If these are actually bank employees, this would mean a remarkable coincidence that these people are doing it individually and coming out with the same reaction.”

Nevertheless, the Reserve Bank of India merely fined 25 banks on the lesser charge of not complying with Know Your Client (KYC) norms: Axis Bank and HDFC Bank were fined the most, at Rs 5 crores and Rs 4.5 crores respectively, while government banks like State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank and Bank of India were each fined Rs3 crores. The quantum of fines suggests the problem was more severe in Axis and HDFC Banks as compared with the government banks, most of whom have a much larger branch network than the private sector banks. The banks happily paid the trivial fines, while the senior management of the implicated banks were not held responsible by the regulator despite the online videos revealing that the problem was systemic and not the work of rogue employees.

DLF’s accomplices

Let alone journalistic exposes, even findings of other regulatory bodies do not seem to carry weight with the RBI. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) order of October 2014 found the real estate giant DLF to have engaged in “sham transactions” to “camouflage the association of DLF with its three subsidiaries.” SEBI found the company guilty of “active and material suppression of material information to defraud and mislead investors.” DLF appealed the order; but what is of interest here is what SEBI said of Kotak Bank. Kotak Bank gave personal unsecured loans to the key management personnel (KMP) of DLF, who in turn gave loans to their spouses; they in turn bought out the shareholdings of DLF in its subsidiaries. As a result of these sham transactions, the three subsidiaries of DLF were no longer reported as subsidiaries — the ownership had changed hands, to the wives of the KMP of DLF.

The SEBI order revealed a similar pattern for 355 DLF subsidiaries, although it did not say who financed the transactions. While Kotak Bank provided the personal loans, its subsidiary, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, was a part of a consortium of eight lead investment bankers for the DLF initial public offering. The offer certified that these 355 entities owned by wives of KMP of DLF were not DLF subsidiaries. Strangely, since the SEBI order, the RBI and SEBI do not appear to be concerned that a commercial bank is facilitating financial transactions to disguise the ownership of subsidiaries; nor that the bank’s investment banking subsidiary is introducing such companies to the capital market. Since the SEBI order, there has been no news that the regulators have penalised Kotak Bank or Kotak Capital, or that Kotak Bank employees involved in the sham transactions have been disciplined.

The new private sector banks report significantly higher fee income than government banks. A part of it can be explained by their selling of third party products like insurance. However, the Cobrapost expose and the SEBI order on DLF provide a possible insight on the business model of these banks and the drivers of their profitability. The normal banking customer, being cost conscious, would be reluctant to pay fees, but those engaging in questionable activities would pay handsomely to disguise their activity. The media and the vast tribe of analysts appear disinterested in probing the sources of the high fee income of new private sector banks. While banks publicly claim to maintain the “highest standards of integrity” the Cobrapost online videos and the SEBI order on DLF depict otherwise, and the onus is on the regulator to crack down on such practices.

Never a rainy day

The divergent performance of the Indian banking sector was reflected in the fourth quarter (Q4 FY2015) earnings: 11 private sector banks posted a robust 35 per cent rise in net profits while 10 government banks declared a 59 per cent fall in net profits. (Business Standard, May 14, 2015) No doubt private banks are more profitable but exactly how are private banks doing so well, when the economy is not?

Strangely, despite corporate sales growth decelerating, industrial growth remaining anemic (2.8 per cent for 2014-2015) and a general squeeze on corporate cash flows, the private sector banks with significant exposure to Indian companies appear to be immune to the general economic slowdown. Private sector banks attribute their performance to better credit appraisal and monitoring and stringent asset recovery procedures, resulting in superior asset quality. For example, in 4QFY2015, ICICI Bank, the largest new private sector bank by assets, reported gross and net impaired (non-performing plus restructured standard) loans of 6.5 per cent and 4.4 per cent of total loans respectively, while Punjab National Bank, the largest of the nationalised banks, reported gross and net impaired loans of 16.3 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively.

If the business media and analysts were to probe deeper, they would detect some highly questionable practices adopted by some private sector banks in reporting low poor quality loans.

In the current industrial slowdown, many corporate projects (the setting up of new capacities) financed by bank term loans are stuck for diverse reasons and companies have been unable to commence commercial production. As cash flows for the project will commence once commercial production starts, the date of commercial production is extremely important. As the projects are unable to achieve completion, some of the private sector banks go so far as to extend the date of commercial production by backdating credit committee meeting minutes. This is, to put it very mildly, highly irregular. By extending the date of these projects in this manner the banks are able to classify the loans as standard and not non-performing even after the original date of commercial production has past.

Ever-greening loans

The practice of lending a defaulting borrower more money, so that the loan does not have to be classified as non-performing, is called ‘ever-greening’. However, such practices could be noticed by the regulator during onsite inspection, so certain private sector banks adopt another innovative practice: when a promoter-controlled company is about to default on a loan, the bank provides a loan to another company managed by the same promoter which in turn lends the funds to the company which was about to default. The company is able to service its loan, and the bank can continue to claim the debt is not bad.

Private sector banks having foreign branches have used dubious methods to keep loans standard. In the case of a prominent infrastructure company which was awarded a large foreign contract, the loan was financed by a private sector bank’s Singapore branch. When the company was about to default on its loan, the bank extended a further loan from its Dubai branch, the proceeds of which were used to service the Singapore branch loan. Since different foreign destinations and regulators were involved it escaped the notice of regulators. However, the problem has become so extensive that the Monetary Authority of Singapore reportedly instructed Indian banks operating in Singapore to desist from financing Indian companies.

While even government banks resort to “ever greening” to report lower non-performing loans, it is undertaken by select individuals and done on a much lower scale. In certain private sector banks, however, it appears to be systemic. The absence of the Central Vigilance Commission, a compliant board of directors and the existence of lucrative performance incentives in private sector banks (in the form of increments, bonuses and disproportionate stock options granted to senior management) encourage such practices.

RBI must regulate

The RBI also lends a helping hand in allowing banks to report higher profits. ICICI Bank in 4QFY2015 reported a net profit growth of 10 per cent to Rs 2,922 crores but a note to accounts stated that with the regulator’s permission the bank had reversed Rs 929 crores of interest income till FY2008 as a direct deduction from reserves (in a single quarter as against RBI allowing it over three quarters) instead of reducing the profit in 4QFY2015.   If the RBI had not given this largesse, ICICI Bank’s 4QFY2015 net profits would have declined instead of the rise it reported. The regulator apparently did not seem to mind that the bank had inflated its income, yield on credit, net interest margin (interest income less interest expenditure/average interest earnings assets) and profits till FY2008 and that it is disclosed to shareholders and the public after six long years.

Indian companies are confronted with major issues: a demand slowdown impacting sales, unfinished projects set up at inflated costs, lengthening working capital cycle squeezing cash flows, and rising debt. Corporate India banks with both government and private sector banks, and hence problems in the corporate sector should impact the entire banking sector, as corporate loans form a significant component of total bank loans. Yet it is only government banks which report high non-performing loans and lower net profits, while private sector banks report low bad loans and higher profits.

The media may be excused for their softness towards private banks; not only are the latter big advertisers, but some media houses have stakes in themwhile promoters of banks have also stakes in media houses. More puzzling is the regulator’s feather-touch approach which permits these banks to continue to do business as usual.

 

Bad debts: Write-offs big fraud, give us defaulter list, orders Supreme Court

 

The Supreme Court ordered RBI to share information about cases where loans amounting to Rs 500 crore and above have been written off by public sector banks.

Taking suo motu cognizance of The Indian Express report that Rs 1.14 lakh crore of bad loans had been written off by state-owned banks between 2013 and 2015, the Supreme Court Tuesday ordered the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to share with it names of all defaulters who owe over Rs 500 crore and continue to lead “lavish lifestyle”.

“People are owing thousands of crore to the public banks… it is a big fraud. Top ten public sector banks have written off Rs 40,000 crore alone in 2015. It is all there in this Indian Express report. Public financial institutions are lending money despite knowing no returns. RBI is supposed to keep a watch on these banks. What are you doing about it?” a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar.

On February 9, The Indian Express reported that a RTI response from the RBI revealed that while bad loans stood at Rs 15,551 crore for the financial year ending March 2012, they shot up over three times to Rs 52,542 crore by the end of March 2015. The government has been trying to shore up public sector banks through equity capital and other measures even as bad loans written off between 2004 and 2015 amounted to more than Rs 2.11 lakh crore.

More than half such loans (Rs 1,14,182 crore) were waived between 2013 and 2015. Responding to the RTI application which had sought details of the biggest defaulters, whether individuals or business entities, whose bad debts to the tune of Rs 100 crore or more had been written off, the RBI said: “The required information is not available with us.” Banks are required to report the bad loans on a consolidated basis, it said.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court bench, also comprising Justices R Banumathi and Uday U Lalit, directed the RBI to submit details of defaulters with debts over Rs 500 crore, rejecting the banking regulator’s argument that it will have to first check the policy on such disclosures. The court was hearing a PIL filed in 2003 by NGO CPIL regarding alleged irregularities in advancing loans by the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) when its counsel Prashant Bhushan handed over The Indian Express report, pointing out that the problem of bad loans has assumed dangerous proportions.

After going through the report, the bench questioned the Solicitor General: “This report is based on RTI… it is not based on the reporter’s assumptions. NPA (non-performing assets) declaration is not unknown to any economy but one has to be prudent in advancing loans, and cautious and vigilant in recovering it. Are you happy in keep funding these companies who declare themselves as sick companies and they have lavish lifestyle?” Ranjit Kumar said the government is taking steps under the SARFAESI Act (Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act) whereby banks can recover loans in cases where NPAs are backed by securities charged to the bank by way of hypothecation or mortgage or assignment.

But the bench said: “Thousands of crore have been written off as bad debts on one day. You must recover that money. From this news report, it looks like a regular phenomenon. Thousands of crores are being written off every year and then you spend more money to recover money. Issue of bad debts is a general issue faced by public sector banks. This is plaguing all financial institutions, especially PSU banks.” It made RBI a party and issued notice, seeking details of defaulters where loans of Rs 500 crore and more have been restructured. When the RBI counsel said it would be difficult to adduce the list, the bench said: “You are supposed to keep a watch on these banks. What are you doing about keeping a watch if you don’t even have this information? You have a list of major defaulters who run empires and yet default. You file an affidavit showing extent of bad debts written off in last five years within six weeks.” It accepted the RBI counsel’s plea to let it submit the details in a sealed cover initially.

PIL – Stop Robberies @  RBI  by  bank staff

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015


IN THE MATTER OF


NAGARAJA . M.R

editor SOS e Clarion of Dalit & SOS e Voice for Justice
# LIG 2 , No 761 ,, HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,
Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State
.
....Petitioner

Versus

Honourable Governor , Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  & Others

....Respondents



PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.


To ,
Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship's Companion
Justices of the Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the
Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :
1. Facts of the case:
"Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for
power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt public servants.

2. Eventhough , I have repeatedly appealed to RBI authorities since  years seeking justice regarding illegalities , irregularities  in  recruitment , currency handling , currency theft , etc @ RBI , they didn’t provide justice at all.

3. For a common man  it is a herculean task to get Rs.5000 loan from a  bank , but  rich & connected get lakhs , crores of rupees loan quite easily from banks , how ?

4. When a common man , farmer defaults to pay loan of few thousands of rupees bank immediately dispatches  loan recovery agents / Rowdies , seizes his property & auctions and recover their dues to last penny. Farmers are committing suicide unable to pay loans to escape from ignominy .

5. Huge companies get crores of rupees loan from banks eventhough basically the project report itself is at fault , not viable. Siphons off company  resources by insider trading to their sister concerns although bank representatives are very much their on the board of companies.

6 . Such companies default on loan dues to bank , but no recovery agents / rowdies are sent by banks. Finally the company becomes bust.

7. Bank looses money , the company  is declared as NON PERFORMING ASSET and government + bank  waives off interest or else loan itself.

8. End looser the public whose money went down the drain , profiteers – company promoters , executives and bank manager. No recovery from their personal , family properties why ?



2. Question(s) of Law:

Is it right for banks , government to let out fraudsters without criminal prosecution ?


3. Grounds:
Requests for equitable justice , Prosecution of master minds of financial frauds.


4. Averment:

Covering up Financial Frauds. Please read details at :

 https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rbi---robberer-s-bureau-of-india ,

https://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/rbi-robberers-bureau-of-india/  ,



Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.


The Petitioner has sent many letters / appeals / petitions to supreme court of india & other courts through e-mail , DARPG website & through regular mail requesting them to consider those as PILs. But none ofthem were admitted , even acknowledgement for receipts were not given. See How duty conscious ,our judges are & see how our judges are sensitive towards life , liberty of citizens , commonmen & see howcareless our judges are towards anti national crimes , crimes worth crores of rupees. That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER:
In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased:

a . Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants , RBI authorities  in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.
b . to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

c. To legally prosecute authorities of M/s RBI &  M/s BRBNMPL , who denied job opportunities to me under the behest of criminals responsible for late PM Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.


FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.

Kindly read full details at following web page :

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rbi---robberer-s-bureau-of-india ,

https://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/rbi-robberers-bureau-of-india/  ,

Dated : 23^rd July  2015 ………………….FILED BY: NAGARAJA.M.R.

Place : Mysuru , India…………………….PETITIONER-IN-PERSON 

ICICI Bank:True to its Motto, Khayal Aapka, ICICI Welcomes Tainted Money to Make It Clean

By Cobra Post

A countrywide undercover investigation by Cobrapost finds ICICI Bank committing gross violations of the Income Tax Act, FEMA, RBI regulations and the anti-Money Laundering Act. These activities render the vast assets it manages, the deposits it maintains, the profits it makes, and the spectacular growth it has registered, suspect.

It was an innocuous visit by a journalist to the bank. The proposition was not innocuous: A politician wants to invest a huge amount of money to make it “white.” Would ICICI Bank officials help?

A six-month long undercover investigation by Cobrapost, codenamed Operation Red Spider, found almost all officials of ICICI Bank bending over backwards to help sequester black money and make it white. Bankers in scores of ICICI branches, spread across the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, UT Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra were willing to help the Cobrapost reporter (posing as a relative of a fictitious politician) launder huge sums of ill-gotten money.

Living up to its Khayaal Aapka (We care for you) motto, almost all the officials of ICICI Bank, caught on camera, welcomed Associate Editor Syed Masroor Hasan. They suggested innumerable ways to convert black money into white: invest the black money in insurance, split the money in smaller chunks to avoid attention, open multiple accounts to make multiple invstments in different names, withdraw money after maturity and close the accounts. All this would serve the purpose of making the money legitimate without the Income Tax Department knowing.

The modus operandi the ICICI Bank officials suggested overall can be summarized as follows:

* Open an account to route the cash into the Bank’s menu of insurance products.
* Do it even without the mandatory PAN card.
* Split the money to invest in a diversified portfolio including gold.
* Invest in multiple instruments in the names of different individuals, not necessarily from among the family, to facilitate the investment of black money.
* Use dummy accounts to faceplate the conversion of black money.
* Get demand drafts made for the client either from their own bank or from other banks to facilitate investment without it showing up in the client’s account.
* Allot lockers for the safekeeping of the illegitimate cash.
* Personally come to the residence of the client to take the black money deal forward.
* Make a suitable profile for the client, such as showing him as an agriculturist or engaged in some businesses, so as to make the investment unquestionable.
* Help the client to transfer black money abroad either through NRE (Non-Resident External)/NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary) accounts or through means other than regular banking procedures.

Helping such bankers and insurers are certain loopholes in the system, such as Section 10-10 (D) and the provision of scrutiny of investments up to a period of 7 years, which are being used to clean customers’ money. But the Anti-Money Laundering Act clearly stipulates that any dubious transactions should be reported to the regulatory authorities and their records preserved for a period of 10 years.

Such was their eagerness to help that one ICICI Bank official who fell hook line and sinker for the fictitious story sold to him by the Cobrapost reporter, went about looking for ‘Vandana’, the invented wife of the invented politician and for the ‘Peeli Kothi’ in Noida, their fictitious home. As one official claimed: “Aisa hai Hindustan mein aisa nahin hai ki koi vyavastha na ho (In Hindustan, there is nothing which cannot be arranged).” Said another official: “Nahin toh kuch na kuch jugaad karte hain aapke liye (Otherwise, we will make some jugaad for you).” When asked if he could do it using some dummy accounts, yet another official offered: “Theek hai ghumate hain … ghoomega idhar se hi ghoomega (Alright, I will manipulate. It will be manipulated from here only).”

Since the start of its operations in 1994, ICICI Bank has emerged as the second largest bank in India, after SBI, with 2900 branches, a presence in 19 countries, and interests in life and general insurance, securities, and venture and asset management, among others. According to the information available on its websites, managing assets worth Rs. 4736.47 billion, the bank earned a profit of Rs. 64.65 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2012, a 20.3 per cent jump over the precious fiscal. What ICICI Bank has achieved in 19 years is phenomenal growth.
However, the revelations made by bank officials during Operation Red Spider raise questions about the bank’s methods, the culpability of the top brass in money laundering, and the failure of the regulatory authorities to monitor their activities. 

 - See more at: http://cobrapost.com/index.php/news-detail?nid=102&cid=28#sthash.A3aucIV4.dpuf

HDFC Bank: Bank on Us to Make Black Money White

By  Cobra Post

A nationwide, undercover investigation across dozens of branches by Cobrapost reveals HDFC Bank is involved in extensive money laundering. The bank is blatantly violating various sections of the Income Tax Act, FEMA, RBI regulations and the Anti-Money Laundering Act, making the legitimacy of its deposits and its phenomenal profits and growth suspect.

It was a simple visit by a journalist, posing as a frontman of a politician, to the bank. So was its stated purpose: A huge amount of black money of the politician was to be invested with the bank. Would the officials help make it white? The rider: Under no circumstances should the politician be identified.

A six-month long undercover investigation by Cobrapost, codenamed Operation Red Spider, found dozens of officials of HDFC Bank, one of the oldest and most prestigious private banks in India, willing to help convert black money into “white”. Bankers across dozens of branches spread across the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, were willing to help our reporter (posing as a frontman for an imaginary politician) launder huge sums of illegitimate cash.

At almost all branches, the Cobrapost journalist got a red carpet welcome, with officials going out of way to suggest myriad ways of converting the black money into white, with the Income Tax Department never coming to know about it: invest the black money in insurance and gold; split the money in smaller lots to avoid attention; open multiple accounts with the bank and withdraw the money after maturity. Almost all the officials claimed they were old hands in helping customers turn black money into white.

Cumulatively, the modus operandi suggested by HDFC Bank officials to help launder a huge sum of the imaginary politician’s black money (source obviously criminal) was

* accept cash and invest it in the Bank’s menu of insurance products and gold;
* do it even without PAN card;
* keep the identity of the client secret;
* help the client to transfer black money abroad through remittance using “legal” methods;
* transfer the money telegraphically;
* open multiple accounts and close them at will to facilitate the investment of black money and withdrawal;
* get Demand Drafts made for the client from their own bank and other banks;
* allot lockers to the client to ensure the safe keeping for their illegitimate, scam-tainted cash;
personally collect the cash from the politician’s house.

All these acts constitute violations under various sections of the Income Tax Act, FEMA, RBI regulation and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002 which was promulgated to prevent the flow of money to groups or individuals who are a threat to the Indian state, its economy and social fabric.
Coming in handy for such acts are certain provisions, such as Section 10-10(D), which bankers and insurers use to help their customers to launder money. HDFC officials were so confident that they threw discretion to the winds while talking business with potential customers. As one official claimed: “HDFC baitha hi hua hai black money khane ke liye (HDFC has been set up to eat up all the black money).”
HDFC Bank began operations in 1995. In the 17 years of its existence, the bank has emerged as one the leading financial institutions in the private sector with interests in securities, mutual funds, realty, life insurance and financial services. According to information available on its websites, its deposits totaled Rs. 246,706 crore as of March, 2012. The bank has registered a more than threefold increase in its net profits – from Rs. 1590.12 crore in the fiscal ending March 2008 to Rs. 5164.96 crore in the fiscal ending March 2012. However, the information unearthed by Operation Red Spider throws doubt on the legitimacy of this growth story because it points to an illegitimacy of its deposits and therefore profits. In an ideal world where banks followed regulation and where regulators did their jobs, the story would have been different.

True to its dictum, We Know Your World, nobody knows the world of black money better than HDFC.

Listed below are the encounters Associate Editor Syed Masroor Hasan had in different HDFC branches:

- See more at: http://cobrapost.com/index.php/news-detail?nid=89&cid=27#sthash.Vq8BfSpR.dpuf

Top 10 Financial Scams in India

- Siddharth Singh

Financial scams have a habit of cropping up with an alarming regularity in the Indian financial system. We have reconciled to financial irregularities to such an extent that we simply do not pay heed to smaller scams that take place around us on a daily basis. I am, or rather was, a part of the financial machinery for a few years, and trust me, even the private sector is not entirely free of the machinations of unscrupulous and enterprising scamsters. The scope of the money involved multiplies manifold in the public sector, with a corresponding drop in accountability.

Financial Scamsters Are Rarely Punished

Despite a plethora of scams that surround us on a daily basis, frequently scams of large proportions come to light, and manage to stun even our jaded sensibilities. Then, there is the usual round of allegations, counter-allegations, enquiries and legislation. Some of our most notable regulations and financial institutions are the results of such scams.

I have compiled a list of ten leading financial scams in India, which have affected a large population of investors, and involved huge sums of money. They managed to shake the very foundations of our financial system, and were driven by that most basest of human instincts – GREED. In most cases, it was the greed of just one individual, or a very small group of individuals, who managed to pull of such huge scandals.

Insurance Scam – This scam had originated and prospered in the period immediately following Independence in 1947. At that time, the insurance sector was not nationalized, and a handful of private companies ruled the roost.  These companies were more concerned with providing benefits to selected industrialists, and ignored the interests of the common man. The government responded by nationalizing the insurance sector, and the LIC was founded under an special Act passed by the Parliament. This scam laid the foundation of the nationalization culture in India.

Securities Scam – Harshad Mehta – This is perhaps the most well known of all financial scams – probably because it happened in a highly visible period – economic reforms had just been started in 1991. Harshad Mehta was quick to understand the weaknesses of the banking system, and exploited these weaknesses to the hilt. He managed to procure huge amounts of money using the so called “Ready Forward” deals, and used this money to purchase large amounts of shares at hugely inflated prices. He earned the sobriquet of “Big Bull” due to this penchant. Later, the banks got a clue of his shady deals, and demanded their money back. The house of cards collapsed, and the rest, as they say, is history!

CRB Scam – This scam took place in the years 1992-1996, the period immediately following the Harshad Mehta fallout. This makes the scam even all the more daring and surprising. CR Bhansali, the perpetrator of this scam, floated more than 100 companies, such as CRB Mutual Funds and CRB Capital Markets. The primary purpose of these companies was to attract huge funds from the public by promising high rates of interest. This interest was later paid form further borrowings, and so on.  In 1995, the stock market collapsed, and this proved to be the undoing of CR Bhansali. He was investigated, and later arrested. After a brief 3-month stint in jail, he has disappeared without a trace, and nobody is asking!

UTI Scam – The UTI scam involved the flagship US-64 scheme of UTI, which was meant to channel the funds of small investors into instruments bearing high returns. Gradually, US-64 developed a investor base of around 2 crore investors. The economic liberalization in India, coupled with the absolute opacity in the operations of UTI, led to a situation wherein the Government was forced to announce a huge bailout of about Rs 3,500-4,000 crores in an order to prevent default in payments to the investors. The consequences of such a situation are unimaginable. But the story does not end here. Later, it turned out that the UTI Chairman appointed at this time, Mr P S Subramanyam, along with a couple of executive directors, acted wrongly to selectively benefit a powerful coterie of brokers and industrialists, while at the same time, jeopardizing the interest of lakhs of small investors.

Home Trade – Around the year 2000, a finance portal emerged on the financial landscape, and gained quick recognition on the back of endorsements by personalities like Hrithik Roshan, Sachin Tendulkar and Shahrukh Khan. The portal, owned by Sanjay Agarwal, claimed to deal in gilts. Soon, RBI got suspicious of activities of some cooperative banks in the gilt market, and a scam was uncovered. The same old saga – brokers and bankers combining to rob people of their hard earnings – was repeated. Funds from Seaman’s Provident Fund and PPF were affected. The total scam size was reported to be around Rs 300 crores, and more than Rs 200 crores were spent on publicity costs alone.

Ketan Parekh

Securities Scam – Ketan Parekh – That our system never learns its lessons was proved by this scam. Ketan Parkekh, a qualified CA, and a stock broker, identified a number of stocks (popularly called the K-10), and took up huge positions in these. For this purpose, he used a large number of Benami accounts and smaller stock exchanges, such as the Kolkata and Ahmedabad stock exchanges. He also borrowed heavily from banks such as Global Trust Bank and Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank. Unfortunately, he was stuck in a bear cartel, and was soon pounded to pulp on the stock exchange. The extent of the scam was estimated to be around Rs 1,500 crores.

Abdul Karim Telgi

Fake Stamp Papers – This scam promised to be the mother of all scams in India, with the initial reports quoting a figure of Rs 30,000 crores as the scam size. Later, RBI clarified that this figure was “rather exaggerated”, and the “correct” figure was around Rs 200 crores. Again, this scam exposes how the India system works – Mr Abdul Karim Telgi, the scam kingpin, paid bribes to get access to the security press in Nasik, where stamp papers and currency notes are printed. He later used this knowledge to print fake stamp papers. At the height of the scam, Telgi’s network spanned 14 states, 125 banks and more than 1,000 employees.

DSQ Software – Though this scam was modest in terms of money involved (only Rs 600 crores!), and did not affect the general public to a great extent, yet it is notable for how it came into being. The main player in the scam was Mr Dinesh Dalmia, who was the MD of DSQ Software Ltd. This company issued around 1.3 million shares in 2001, and these shares were allotted to four companies on a preferential basis. NSDL, a stock depository, dematerialized and helped in delivering the shares. Nothing wrong in that, except that the shares were not even listed on any stock exchange! Oops!

IPO Scam – A number of key operators, including corporate stock brokers such as Karvy and Indiabulls, were involved in the IPO scam that spanned the years 2004 – 2005. The modus operandi was simple – the operators would open thousands of fake accounts to purchase shares in IPOs, in the hope of selling later at huge profits. A spate of IPOs issued during this period were heavily oversubscribed due to this scam, sometimes by as much as 40 times!

Satyam – On a cold January morning in 2009, Ramalinga Raju, chairman of Satyam Computer Services, admitted to falsification in the company accounts and various other irregularities, and sent a chill down the collective spine of the Indian financial system. Coming on the back of the global recession, this incident promised to bust the Indian outsourcing industry and the stock market, but for some deft bailout work by the government. The matter is still under investigation and litigation, and the true extent of the scam will be known in the future, perhaps. Mr Raju himself had admitted to irregularities worth around Rs 12,000 crores.

An analysis of the scams reveals a common script  – greed, corruption, unscrupulous brokers, colluding bankers, irresponsible authorities and hapless investors, who refuse to learn their lessons. But then, these are the essential ingredients of a worthy financial scam!

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A brief about Top 10 Investment Scams in India

1. The Securities Scam
   The capital market witnessed its foremost investment scandal in the form of securities scandal in the year 1992. It revealed the utter anarchy and lack of administration in the prevailing fiscal market. The money market at that time permitted funds to be relocated with impunity from financial institution and corporates into equity and consequently witnessed crores of bank's capital to transfer into brokers' account. This illegal market practice was later asserted as "legal and acknowledged".
   
   In an attempt to punish the tricksters, a special court was initiated and scrutinized around 70 cases registered by CBI. Surprisingly, not even a single trickster was found guilty by the dreadfully sluggish judicial system. As a matter of fact, the scamsters made frequent attempts to re-enter the market with same set of traps and resulted in losses to investors.
2. The IPO scam Soon after the entry of international organizational investors, the Control over Capital Issues was banned as the market saw heavy bull trend resulting in the revitalization of the secondary market from the previous scandals. The ban of Control over Capital Issues unlocked the prospects of massive scandal in Initial Public Offerings (IPO). The scam was executed in two parts; the first part was carried out by the firms that increased their market costs to incur profits in order to sponsor lucrative projects. The second part saw the unison of small time merchants, CAs, investment bankers and traders to hoist new firms and heave public capitals.
   
   The IPO scam prevailed for three long years from 1993-1996 and finally saw its downfall when the costs of the registered firm started deteriorating.
3. Favored share scam
   The scandal was an outcome of the extensive cost fixing on the derivative market. Besides increasing fresh capital, advocates of Indian firms promptly coordinated general body authorizations to transfer shares to themselves on a privileged basis and at a considerable reduction to the market, thinking that the share prices would never see the ground. Conglomerates started this trend and accrued profits of nearly 55o crores until Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) formulated strict guidelines to abandon the market practice.
4. CRB's cardboard scam
   The Rs 1000 crore finacial multinational named as Chain Roop Bhansali (CRB) was the only biggest firm and most impudent of all to benefit and disappear in the loosened market ambiance of mid-1990s. The services offered by his firm entailed FC collection, mutual fund, banking, etc. The clearances obtained by the firm for the trading of these services required sufficient inspection by SEBI and the RBI and the fact that they managed to qualify shows the supervisory weariness of the regulators. Facilitated by the clearances and profitable credit ranking, CRB accrued greater profits based on high value financing. The CRB collapse not only affected the investors but also the other finance firms.
5. Plantation firms' scam
   Since few firms in mid-90s were subject to no guidelines, the plantation companies during that time also got away with profit protrusions. The plantation firms projected themselves as a part of IPO and assured massive returns. The investors were lured and the companies accrued profits from fake campaigns of around Rs 8000 crores plus.
6. Mutual Funds scam
   After several mutual fund scams, the UTI bailout reflected the lack of proper guidelines in the Indian capital market. Since UTI was initiated under its own regulations, it was the tax payers who suffered the loss of Rs 4800 crore in the process. After three years, the company was back purchasing Ketan Parekh's controlled scrips and incurring massive losses in the process. The evidence of the private mutual funds performance has also been inconsistent after hitting the downfall in 1999 and 2000. It took a considerable amount of time for capital market to win back the trust of mutual fund investors.
7. The 1998 scam
   The scamster of 1992 scam, Harshad Mehta came back with a bag of tricks again in 1998. This time he lured investors through a website by trading stock tips. His unremitting manipulation of several shares resulted in the much expected collapse of Bombay Stock Exchange.
8. Home Trade scam
   Initiated in 2000, Home trade invested rs 24 crore in promotional campaigns to attract investors. The scam affected 8 co-operative banks that lost Rs.82 Crore in EPF scheme. The Chief Executive of Hometrade, Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal was convicted by Nagpur Police later.
9. DSQ Software Scam
   In the year 2000 and 2001, the Managing Director of DSQ Software, Mr. Dinesh Dalmia, was held responsible for ambiguous mergers and prejudiced allocation of the amount of upto Rs.595 Crores. He was later convicted in the year 2006.
10. Satyam Scam
    After manipulating the firm's documents for several financial years, the former Chairman and Chief Executive of Satyam Computers, Mr.Ramalinga Raju, was arrested for committing scam, following unethical practice and forgery. He showed greater profits and committed fraud of Rs 700 crores.

The rupee-rouble scam--Part-I

UPA has much to explain
By Namit Verma

The whole story rests on the dual pricing of the rouble in India, even though this practice was given up elsewhere in the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Russia?s assimilation in the comity of free world economies.

Recent disclosures have, for the first time, brought out the full extent of the rupee-rouble scam which dominated the economic regime shift during the early nineties, at the start of the liberalisation process presided over by the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh. Preparing to breakaway from the P.V. Narasimha Rao-led Congress government, Shri Arjun Singh had alleged in his historic Bhopal rally that the Narasimha Rao government was embroiled in scams and misappropriation to the tune of Rs. 80,000 crore. While this was reported in the media, it was not taken seriously, because the Indian masses did not believe that a fraud of such enormous magnitude was possible. In retrospect, it appears that the charges levelled by Shri Arjun Singh were wholly correct.

Understanding the new methodology of scams, which began during Dr Manmohan Singh?s first political tenure as Finance Minister of India, has become important because of the increasing regularity with which this method is being applied. The method involves effecting a regime change in the economic sphere. At the time of regime changes, there is greater tolerance for procedural irregularities in the name of incompatibility between succeeding regimes. This tolerance is used to systematically indulge in irregularities which are purported to be insignificant, but instead drain the national treasury of tens of thousands of crores of rupees. The secrecy surrounding these irregularities only makes the decision-makers? intent even more suspect.

The demise of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on 8 December 1991 led to upheavals across the world. The Soviet Union and its successors paid the price of the regime change. The economic cost of this regime change was borne almost entirely by constituents of that once great country. Not ally or protectorate was asked to share the burden of the collapse, not Cuba, not Poland, not Czechoslovakia, nor Yugoslavia. Only India volunteered to share the burden.

Strangely, the burden of the Soviet collapse, as shared by India, did not end up in Moscow; most of it ended up in numbered accounts in Switzerland. So did we share the burden of the Soviet collapse with that once friendly nation: obviously not. But we did share substantial proceeds out of the Indian GDP and government revenue in this guise. The question is, whom did we share this booty of tens of thousands of crores with? Were these merely book operations? In straight words, how many of these operations were phony operations? Worse, how many times were these real and phony operations inflated at the time of settling the bills? How was this scam rationalised inside government decision-making circles? And finally, who was the mastermind behind this loot of the Indian exchequer?

The whole story rests on the dual pricing of the rouble in India, even though this practice was given up elsewhere in the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Russia?s assimilation in the comity of free world economies.

When the Soviet polity collapsed, its economy and financial system also crashed. Not only were the Russians forced to correct the international value of their currency, they also had to contend with galloping inflation the like of which the world had never seen before, not even in the famed economic history book renderings of German inflation during and between the World Wars.

Soviet Union had been a major international player who had extended debts to various East Bloc and other friendly countries, including Cuba, Poland, India, et al. As their currency?s exchange rate collapsed to 1/5000th its value and even further to 1/15000th of its pre-December 1991 value, its international loan portfolio was accordingly revalued. Rather than collect a pittance compared to the original debt value, the successor state of the Soviet Union, viz the Commonwealth of Independent States, decided to write off the entire rouble debt. Thus the debt to Poland, Cuba and a host of other countries was written off.

At that point of time, India had the option of settling the entire Russian debt for a then current exchange rate determined total value of around 23 crore rupees. We did not do so. Even as great economist Dr Manmohan Singh presided over the Finance Ministry, we voluntarily offered to revalue the rouble debt. Instead of then current value of 23 crore we agreed to pay back the revalued debt in installments over several years in staggered installments. We ended up paying tens of thousands of crores out of the notional Vostro escrow accounts in the Reserve Bank of India.

Understanding this phenomenon is key to understanding how a significant part of the Indian GDP is creamed off by the top by corrupt Indian politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen and their foreign accomplices. 

** The Rupee-Rouble Scam - II

Manmohan knew it all along
The rupee-rouble scam--Part-II
By Namit Verma

Despite opposition from the other ministries concerned, Commerce, Defence and External Affairs; the Indian Finance Ministry under Dr Manmohan Singh and with the redoubtable team of flamboyant officers like Montek Singh Ahluwalia, N.K. Singh, N.P. Singh and A.K. Singh allowed Boris Yeltsin to unilaterally abrogate the 1978 protocol without any legal and/or compensatory financial recourse.

Ever heard of SISTEMA, or of NORILSK? They will outbid all competition to buy your stock, your company and your mineral reserves. Whether it be coveted telecom licenses or scarce mineral resources, nobody can withstand their purchasing power. But then, they have an advantage, they buy the rupee at a discount. Technically, at a 90 to 95 per cent discount; reportedly, after paying off their political, bureaucratic and central banking friends, at a 40 to 45 per cent discount. 

These companies are the progeny of Dr Manmohan Singh’s long career in the world of Indian finance. Few entrepreneurs could have sired such brilliant corporate children whose growth rate defied gravity. Fewer still could have nurtured such dreams in the tenuous world of governance and politics in a democracy. Yet, the vision and genius of Dr Manmohan Singh made these profit centre marvels possible, as he nurtured them in many capacities. 

As Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India, he masterminded the Intergovernmental Protocol of 25 November 1978 with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Through the 1978 protocol, he arranged for the administered fixed parity of the rupee and the rouble to be replaced by a floating parity linked to western currencies. This led to the withdrawal of the Soviet Bloc’s back-channel access to western economic systems through the shock absorber Indian economy. 

Removal of the Indian buffer made the USSR vulnerable to the contradictions between its domestic and international trading sectors; thereby facilitating the West getting it’s foot in the door and bankrupting the Soviet treasury. Of course, the Soviet state with its enormous asset base couldn’t be bankrupted; yet, following this liquidity/monetary crisis, America friendly faces started emerging in key positions in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, setting up the dominoes for Mikhail Gorbachev to unleash, and Boris Yeltsin to collect upon. As Co-Chairman of the Indo-Soviet Joint Planning Group Meeting (1980-82), he authorised the Deferred Payments Protocol of 30 April 1981. 

This smokescreen has proved to be more an instrument of administered value inflation/revision of an ostensibly floating rouble, than a deferred payment agreement: contradictions abound. As leader of the Indian delegation to the Indo-Soviet Monitoring Group Meeting (1982), like an adept rural moneylender, he ensured self-inflating clauses in the revised protocol to ensure that the loan repayment would remain incomplete despite being paid back several times. 

As Minister of Finance, he authorised the Letters of Exchange dated 29 January 1993, to open unhindered access to India’s national treasury for Russian companies. By now, the political wheel had turned upside down in the erstwhile Soviet Union, and the US friendly Boris Yeltsin had taken over. 

Despite opposition from the other ministries concerned, Commerce, Defence and External Affairs; the Indian Finance Ministry under Dr Manmohan Singh and with the redoubtable team of flamboyant officers like Montek Singh Ahluwalia, N.K. Singh, N.P. Singh and A.K. Singh allowed Boris Yeltsin to unilaterally abrogate the 1978 protocol without any legal and/or compensatory financial recourse. We shall discuss these actions of the Government of India in greater detail in forthcoming paragraphs. 

As Prime Minister, Dr Singh is running his final lap in India, he is in a rush to sanction full liquidity and valuation rights accorded to these special rupees, despite the fact that while signing the 1993 protocol, Yeltsin had specifically promised that this would not be allowed. Yet, every agreement has been set aside and this has been effected. 

Thus a company like Sistema is bidding for majority control of Shyam Telelink which in turn was allotted a Universal Telecommunication License for the whole country earlier this year. Now Sistema bought Shyam Telelink shares at Rs 55 each, or around 1.1 Soviet Rouble (Sixth Rouble: 1961-1997) under the 1993 protocol read with Public Notice No 12 (RE 2007)/2004-2009 of 27 June 2007, whereby the RBI fixed the Indian Rupee value of the Special Currency Basket linked to the Rouble at 56.8292 effective from 19 April 2007. 

Again, conversion rate from Sixth Soviet Rouble to the Seventh Russian Rouble was fixed at 1000 Sixth Rouble to 1 Seventh Rouble at the time of new issue on 1 January 1998. Thus, the price of 1.1 Sixth Rouble per Shyam Telelink share = 0.0011 Seventh Rouble per Shyam Telelink share = 0.0011 x 0.044012 dollars per Shyam Telelink share = 0.0000484132 dollars per Shyam Telelink share = 0.0000484132 x 42.735 rupees = 0.002068938102 Rupees or 2.068938102 paisa per Shyam Telelink share! Calculating further, that Sistema bought these Rupee credits at a 90 per cent discount, or at 10 per cent of face value, the effective cost per Shyam Telelink share for Sistema works out at 0.0207 paise! Given that the effective discount was only 50 per cent, assuming 20 per cent kickback each to the Indian and Russian establishments, even so, the price per Shyam Telelink share to Sistema works out at 1.034469 paise or Re 0.01. 

So, by channeling their money through the arbitrage funnel of the Indo-Russian Intergovernmental Agreement of 1993, the foreign company is grabbing shares for effectively 1 paisa each. All this, while indigenous bidders would have to pay 55 honest rupees for the same shares at the same time, i.e. five thousand five hundred times the price paid by the Russian company! 

Such is the magnanimity of Dr Manmohan Singh in handing over Indian assets to foreign entities. In the wake of these facts, can there be any doubt about the love, adulation, prestige and loyalty he commands in the international arena.http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=248&page=4

The rupee-rouble scam--Part-I @
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=247&page=3

Posted by GlobalCitizen at 11:19 AM 

The outsider in the system

What stands out in Javid Chowdhury’s autobiographical account of his life as a civil servant is his angst and mild bitterness about governance in general and, more particularly, the manner in which economic liberalisation took place after the 1990-91 crisis. Clearly, Mr Chowdhury’s mindset is different from that of those who ran economic policy while he was in the finance ministry — heading a directorate responsible for the enforcement of foreign exchange laws and, later, as revenue secretary.

He makes no bones about his dislike of the “tsars of economy policy” in government. He does not name them specifically, but you can easily guess who these people may be from the many incidents he recounts. Montek Singh Ahluwalia will easily top that list. Vijay L Kelkar and N K Singh also figure in that list of the tsars with whom Chowdhury could not see eye-to-eye on economic policies. Chowdhury is no fence-sitter. You may not always agree with his assessment of Messrs Ahluwalia, Kelkar or Singh, but his frank views on people and policies display a quality that is increasingly becoming rare among civil servants.

Mr Chowdhury reserves his most critical comments for Mr Ahluwalia. Recounting the finance ministry’s comments on the securities scam in the early 1990s before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probing charges of financial irregularities, Mr Chowdhury says the performance of Mr Ahluwalia, then the economic affairs secretary, was “that of an excellent advocate with a very weak brief”. It was clear that Mr Ahluwalia’s explanation that the securities scam was an outcome of a systemic failure did not impress Mr Chowdhury, then in the enforcement directorate. Worse, the JPC proceedings, according to him, showed how the government “brazenly” defended “illegalities in the universe of securities and banks”.

It is here that Mr Chowdhury gives you a clue as to why he may have disliked the tsars of economic policy. This is how he sums up Mr Ahluwalia’s long lecture before the JPC: “There was not the slightest tinge of introspection or remorse — there was only an absolute confidence of talking one’s way out of the crisis. The attitude was that if laws had been violated, the laws were wrong — because they understood economics, and therefore what they say should be the law.” And systemic failure became a “ready alibi for any otherwise indefensible action in the decades that followed”.

Mr Ahluwalia figures again when the author writes about the irregularities over foreign exchange transactions relating to Indo-Russian rouble-rupee trade. As enforcement director, Mr Chowdhury’s team had investigated the misuse of the vostro accounts maintained by some banks, including a few branches of well-known foreign banks. However, just before officials of these banks could be charge-sheeted, the matter was taken up by the finance minister (who else but Dr Manmohan Singh!), who quickly convened a meeting. Significantly, Mr Chowdhury writes, the revenue secretary at that time, M R Sivaraman, did not attend that meeting citing some other important engagement, and Mr Ahluwalia questioned the advisability of proceeding with the charge-sheets since they would be bad for investment and shake up the corporate world. Mr Chowdhury fought a gallant battle and emerged victorious in the end, getting even a rare comment from Dr Singh that suggested that he was not happy with the way the finance secretary had dealt with the matter.

Mr Chowdhury also makes it clear that he was extremely uncomfortable with the reforms process, although he does not single out anything substantive or specific as problematic. He saw “an uncritical liberalizer” in Vijay Kelkar, with whom he worked as additional secretary in the petroleum ministry. “Privatization fever” was raging in the government in 1995-96 and was getting a fillip under Mr Kelkar.

N K Singh, another tsar of economic policy, surfaces in these memoirs in a rather strange episode — as secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was PM. Mr Vajpayee had decided to remove the ban on production of non-iodised salt on the basis of a petition made by some Gandhians. However, as Mr Chowdhury learnt as the health secretary, Mr Singh had not conveyed that decision to the health ministry since he knew the decision would have wide-ranging public health implications. Mr Chowdhury’s explanation of why Mr Singh took no action is significant: “While NK could gift away Rashtrapati Bhawan if he was in the mood, he would be canny enough to know the public cost of that generosity…Public loss with no corresponding private gain was a proposition NK could not rationalize”. Later, the PM realised what must have happened and called Mr Chowdhury personally and directed him to remove the ban!

A recurring theme is a sense of hurt and disappointment that Mr Chowdhury fails to conceal in recounting how the reform process dismantled the earlier policy regime. He presents himself as a bewildered bureaucrat who was “always told we were reforming, but no one had a clue about the macro-plan or the reason.” As someone who headed the enforcement directorate, his main grievance was that the “tsars of the economy” wanted the foreign exchange regulations to be made toothless. He resents the campaign that the foreign exchange regulation act had to be repealed and replaced with the foreign exchange management act, as the earlier law was only an instrument for harassment. “However, the impression given, that high-profile corporates were routinely and falsely targeted, is sheer fiction,” Mr Chowdhury declares. This lacks conviction as elsewhere in the memoirs, he narrates how the directorate was prone to misuse by politicians and ministers to meet political objectives.

Mr Chowdhury describes his memoirs as an insider’s view. But his disappointment with the way the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act was diluted and how double-tax avoidance agreements became the conduit for tax evasion shows that he largely remained an outsider in the system — at a time when much of India’s economic policies were changed. The Insider’s View is testimony to that disconnect.

UPA Oil for food scam

The scam took place in 2005 and K.Natwar Singh was dismissed from the duty after finding the oil scam with Iraq for food. He allegedly favoured some people to take part in the oil for food program of the Iraq government. Kickbacks were allegedly paid.

Scam

The UN-appointed Volcker Committee, which probed irregularities in Iraq's oil-for-food programme during the regime of Saddam Hussein, isuued its report in October last year.

In his report, Paul Volcker, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve who headed the committee, named Natwar Singh and the Congress party as 'non-contractual beneficiaries' of the programme, triggering the political controversy that forced him to resign as external affairs minister on November 8, 2005.

He, however, continued as minister without portfolio till he finally quit the government almost a month later. The government also appointed former diplomat Virender Dayal as a special envoy to liase with the UN to collect documents related to the oil-for-food scam.

About 135 Indian entities figured in the 630-page Volcker Committee report, and the Income Tax department carried out enquiries into transactions of some of the Indian individuals and firms listed in the document.

The Volcker Committee, which extensively examined the oil-for-food programme that was meant to enable Iraq to use oil revenues to provide humanitarian supplies to its people, found irregularities in both Iraqi earnings from oil exports and the use of these revenues for purchasing relief materials.

Between December 1996 and March 2003, Iraq sold oil worth $64.23 billion to 248 companies under the programme. During this period, it purchased $34.5 billion of humanitarian supplies from 3,614 companies from across the world.

The Volcker Report alleged Saddam Hussein's regime levied an 'illicit' surcharge on oil contracts between September 2000 and September 2002. It estimated the regime mobilised $228.8 million from such surcharges paid by 139 companies.

The panel also alleged that 2,253 companies that sold humanitarian supplies paid 'kickbacks' worth $1.55 billion to the regime. The Volcker panel estimated the total 'illicit' income accruing to the Iraqi regime at $1.779 billion.

Natwar Singh and the Congress were named in the Volcker Committee's report in a section that provided details of oil allocations made by the then Iraqi government to various entities and individuals. All these entities, classified 'non-contractual beneficiaries,' were recipients of oil allocations, according to the report.The reports said 'Iraq dispensed oil allocations to and on behalf of a wide array of individuals and groups whom it considered influential in their respective countries and who espoused pro-Iraq views or organised anti-sanctions activities.'

Andaleeb Sehgal, a friend of Jagat Singh, and Aditya Khanna, a relative of Natwar Singh, are understood to have received financial payoffs in the deal by getting oil coupons based on the letters of recommendation given by Natwar Singh.

The authority has found that Natwar and his son had misused their position in helping Sehgal and Khanna bag three oil contracts from the UN sanctioned Saddam regime.

Sehgal and Khanna, in turn, passed the contracts on to Swiss oil company Masefield AG which drew the oil and paid them a commission, the report says, adding that on a cut of five cents a barrel, Sehgal and Khanna received a total commission of $1,46,000, which they divided between themselves in a ratio of 4:1.

Former Indian Ambassador to Croatia and Congress leader Aniel Matherani, who was part of a four-member delegation led by Natwar to Baghdad in January, 2001, was also exonerated of any wrong doing.

When the oil-for-food scam came to light in November last year, Natwar Singh, had to first quit as external affairs minister and then from the Union Cabinet within a month on December 6.

In between after a political uproar the government appointed the Inquiry Authority headed by Justice R S Pathak, former Chief Justice of India, to probe the whole affair and at the same time it asked the Enforcement Directorate to investigate the financial dealings of the Indian entities. Virender Dayal collected documents from the UN, Iraq and Jordan, running into more than 1,100 pages and a CD containing material of 82,000 pages. Among these were documents from Iraq's State Oil Marketing company and banks in Jordan.

The Indian entities allegedly routed kickbacks through Jordanian banks. The papers obtained from Iraq related to oil contracts issued during the Saddam Hussein regime. The firm Masefield, named in the Volcker report for having lifted oil earmarked for Indian entities, was linked to Hamadaan Exports of Andaleeb Sehgal, who was accused of passing on kickbacks to Natwar Singh and the Congress.

Both had denied these charges and the Pathak panel too said financial transactions had not been traced to them.

Investigation

The Justice Pathak Committee on 3 August 2006, indicted former external affairs minister K Natwar Singh and his legislator son Jagat Singh for procurement of contracts in the United Nations oil-for-food programme in Iraq during Saddam Hussain's regime. However, no money has been traced to them.

The copy of the 110-page report, including 22 pages of annexures, was handed over to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by Justice R S Pathak, who headed the one-man inquiry authority. The authority is believed to have exonerated the Congress of all charges of being a non-contractual beneficiary in the scam in 2001.

Natwar Singh, who was summoned by the Authority, as were Sehgal and others, had always maintained that he had not done anything wrong in the whole affair and the inquiry would prove his innocence. He had also accused the Enforcement Directorate of indulging in a witch-hunt and harassing his son and others. He had hinted at some higher-ups in the Congress party of going after him and had complained to the prime minister.

  

PIL  -  Corporate Crimes  &  Corporate  Thugs 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO.  OF 2015


IN THE MATTER OF

NAGARAJA . M.R

editor SOS e Clarion of Dalit & SOS e Voice for Justice
# LIG 2 , No 761 ,, HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,
Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State
.
....Petitioner

Versus

Cabinet Secretary ,Ministry of Corporate Affairs  , Government of  India & Others

....Respondents

PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

To ,
Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship's Companion
Justices of the Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the
Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :
1. Facts of the case:
a. "Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt public servants.

b. There are many  companies in india ,  promoters of which are indulging in illegal practices  in their  greed to make money. They are swindling lending banks &  share holders by  posting  wrong picture about their project worth , product costing, etc. They siphon off money too to their sister companies by insider trading , by buying  machineries  & material at  higher than market price from sister companies ,  by selling products to their sister companies at lower value , by lending loans , guarantees to their sister companies , etc.  some of our greedy auditors & company secretaries are teaching  these  criminal industrialists how to tweak laws , how to escape through legal loop holes unscathed. These  type of Industrialists  are nothing but Rogues , Third class people with third class culture but in First class  attire.

c.  Add to this  corporate corruption , the high ranking executives  indulge in corrupt practices during purchase , sales functions draining the company resources.

d. The managers of lending banks , executives of SEBI ,  officers of MCA  have a say in the  running of the culprit   companies. But they keep mum , for a price ?

e. Most  part of that swindled money , black money is destabilizing our economy , causing inflation ,  funding  underworld & Terrorist outfits.

2. Question(s) of Law:
What is the guarantee for public money invested or lent  to such fraudulent companies ? How to recover  the public money ?

3. Grounds:
Requests for equitable justice , Accountability for public money worth crores of rupees.

4. Averment:

Private companies in their greed for money  are violating norms  in league with public officials. They  have caused loss to the public exchequer and to the public. Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider  this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions in the case of Reliance , RPG , Nestle and others.

PRAYER:
In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased:

(i) Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.

(ii) to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

(iii) To bring  all private companies  who have  either borrowed loans from public , bank , FIs , government  or collected share capital from  public , FIs , government  or received subsidy ,  seed  capital from public , public institution  under purview of RTI Act of Government of India.

(iv) To  annually make public ,  combined  list  of all  Non  Performing Assets  of   banks , FIs , NBFCs , Government  with names of defaulting promoters.

(v) To annually  make public wealth details of Bank Managers , FI managers.

(vi) To  make it mandatory  for  each company , to  take approval of share holders , banks before making  any donations either to political parties , religious bodies , etc.

(vii)  When a company goes bust due to siphoning off money by  promoters , in such cases  the sister companies  or companies in criminal nexus who have benefitted from the swindled money must also be seized , personal properties of promoters of the culprit company / sister companies  and  the properties in the names of their family members  must also be seized , auctioned  off to recover public money.

(viii) The financial transaction or material transaction like purchase / sale of material between an Indian company and a company abroad  , must be endorsed by share holders , lending banks.

(ix) To annually  make public wealth details of  all  state government & central government  Tax officials , who are aiding  the  Criminal Industrialists in their crimes.

(x) We at  SOS e Voice for Justice &  SOS e Clarion of Dalit  offer our conditional services to the SCI , to apprehend criminals , guilty industrialists. Are you ready to  utilize it ?

(xi) Whistle blowers who alert about corporate crimes must be protected & rewarded.

(xii) The channeling of money  from these corporate to  Underworld & Terrorist outfits must be stopped.

(xiii) All  NGOs , Political Parties , Religious Bodies must annually make public  the  details of donations received from public & corporates.

(xiv) To make Corporate Social Responsibility mandatory for all corporate making profit .

(xv) To  annually make public CSR details  of Corporates  and punish those showing inflated figures.

(xvi) As  a final step  banning all corporates  from making donations to NGOs , Political Parties , Religious bodies and  make it mandatory for them to invest in CSR initiatives.

(xvii) In cases of corporate crimes ,   liability  should cover  promoters , directors , decision making executives of the company individually. 

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.

Kindly read full details at following web page :

Fraud  in Banking Sector

http://www.bis.org/review/r130730a.pdf  ,

http://media1.intoday.in/businesstoday/images/fraud-survey-ErnstYoung.pdf

PIL- Reliance Scams

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/pil---reliance-scams 

PIL – Killer  Colas , Noodles , Medicines

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/pil---killer-noodles-colas-medicines 

RBI – Robber’s   Bureau of  India

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rbi---robberer-s-bureau-of-india  

DOW – Pay up

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/dow---pay-up 

Corporate Terrorists of India

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/corporate-terrorists-of-india-1

Vostro  Account  Scam

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/vostro-account-scam-crimes-of-r 

CORPORATE CRIMES RPG CABLES LIMITED

http://crimesatrpg.blogspot.com/  ,
http://crimesatrpg.wordpress.com/  ,

Dated : 16^th  January  2015……………………………………….. FILED BY: NAGARAJA.M.R.

Place :  Mysuru , India………………………….. …………………..PETITIONER-IN-PERSON

Editorial : CORPORATE CRIMINALS /  CORPORATE TERRORISTS /  TAX THIEVES  RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL ILLS IN INDIA

In India , a small shop owner to big industrialist have mastered the art of TAX EVASION . their teachers - some corrupt tax officials & auditors. The black money thus created
is causing inflation, feeding the mafia , underworld. Some industrialists lobby ( bribe ) with the government & gets favourable laws enacted. This black money is the main source of funds for political parties , religious bodies & terrorist outfits.

The recent raids by C.B.I & KARNATAKA LOKAYUKTHA have proved how the tax officials have become multi-millionaires. The sad part is that some of the police officials who are on deputation to C.B.I & LOKAYUKTHA themselves are utterly corrupt.

This scourge can only be cured by corporate accountability intoto. However , all the industrialists , traders who are demanding for more flexible labour reforms , economic reforms , infrastructure , etc are not at all concerned about their own accountability with respect to tax , environment , other laws. The MNCs coming to India are not coming here for best Indian talents or infrastructure alone. In their own countries they are feeling the
heat of strict environment laws , consumer laws , share holder disclosures , corporate accountability. Some of these MNCs are being kicked out of their countries , by it's own people .These MNCs are aware that in India , by greasing the palms environment laws , labour laws , tax laws , etc everything can be flouted , cases in courts can be dragged on for years . share holder disclosures , corporate transparency is minimum.

However when a concerned citizen complains about the crimes of guilty corporates , organizations or corrupt public servants , immediate action is not taken. The file is kept pending for months , years together  , allowing the criminals to manipulate all the evidences , records , ground situations. Finally even if action is taken guilty will be let out due to favorable  evidences , there are chances that the concerned citizen himself is falsely implicated & put behind bars . in all such cases all the involved parties must be subjected to lie detector tests .

Bottomline : development is a must , it must be all around . but not at the cost of majority to make a few richer.

 Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

Your’s sincerely,

Nagaraja.M.R.

PIL – Legal Prosecution of  Government officials , Public Servants  involved in Reliance  Scams

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION



CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015





IN THE MATTER OF



NAGARAJA . M.R  ,

editor  ,  SOS e  Clarion  of   Dalit  &  SOS  e  Voice  for  Justice ,

# LIG 2 , No 761 , HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,

Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State

.....Petitioner



Versus



Honourable  Cabinet  Secretary ,  PMO , Government of  India  & Others

....Respondents





PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF

MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.





To ,



Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship's Companion

Justices of the Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the Petitioner above named.





MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :



1. Facts of the case:

Our  whole hearted respects  to honest few in judiciary , parliament & public service. Our salutes to them , due to  honest efforts of those few  noble persons only at least democracy is surviving in India.

A .  "Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt people’s representatives , police , public servants & Judges. Some of the below mentioned judges fall among the category of churchill’s men – Rogues , Rascals & Freebooters.

B . Loot of natural resources , telecom  spectrum  &  public property  in  India  and  illegal aid  to  those criminals by government officials.

2. Question(s) of Law:

Are  government  officials ,  telecom , petroleum , finance department officials  , police & revenue officials who aided  loot ,  above Law & can go scot free ?



3. Grounds:

Requests for equitable justice , legal prosecution & punishment of guilty  government  officials  and public servants .


4. Averment:

Give what action has been taken by government of india  or state governments  or other statutory bodies  against reliance industries  for it’s irregularities in telecom , oil sector , etc.

That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.



PRAYER:



In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased:

(i) Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.

(ii) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india to  legally prosecute  guilty officials  mentioned in the above said report.

(iii) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india  to uphold the constitution of india  , to protect natural resources and to protect the constitutional rights of all Indian citizens including mine.

(iv) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india  to  immediately keep all government officials mentioned in the above said report under suspension from service & to take necessary steps to protect all type of evidences.


(v) to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.



Date :  28^th November  2015………………………………Filed By : Nagaraja.M.R.

Place : Mysuru India…………………………………………..Petitioner in person

PIL – Legal Prosecution of officials involved in Bellary Mining Scam

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION



CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015





IN THE MATTER OF



NAGARAJA . M.R  ,

editor  ,  SOS e  Clarion  of   Dalit  &  SOS  e  Voice  for  Justice ,

# LIG 2 , No 761 , HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,

Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State

.....Petitioner



Versus



Honourable Chief  Secretary , Government of Karnataka  & Others

....Respondents





PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF

MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.





To ,



Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship's Companion

Justices of the Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the Petitioner above named.





MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :



1. Facts of the case:

Our  whole hearted respects  to honest few in judiciary , parliament & public service. Our salutes to them , due to  honest efforts of those few  noble persons only at least democracy is surviving in India.

A .  "Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt people’s representatives , police , public servants & Judges. Some of the below mentioned judges fall among the category of churchill’s men – Rogues , Rascals & Freebooters.

B . Loot of natural resources in Karnataka state  and  illegal aid  to  those criminals by government officials. Read  Karnataka Lokayukta Mining scam report .

2. Question(s) of Law:

Are  forest officials , police & revenue officials who aided  bellary mining loot ,  above Law & can go scot free ?



3. Grounds:

Requests for equitable justice , legal prosecution & punishment of guilty police , revenue , forest officials.


4. Averment:

GIVE WHAT ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN AGAINST THE GUILTY  GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS  MENTIONED  IN THE KARNATAKA LOKAYUKTA REPORT  submitted by Justice Santosh Hegde &  Shri.U.V.Singh ABOUT BELLARY MINING SCAM. IF NOT WHY ?  REASONS THEROF.

How many guilty government officials mentioned in the above report  got promotions , continuing in service making it easy for them to tamper evidences ?

What action against  public servants , officials who are hushing up the case & protecting the guilty ?

The Petitioner has sent many letters / appeals / petitions to supreme court of india & other courts through e-mail , DARPG website & through regular mail requesting them to consider those as PILs. But none of them were admitted , even acknowledgement for receipts were not given. See How duty conscious ,our judges are & see how our judges are sensitive towards life , liberty of citizens , commonmen & see how careless our judges are towards anti national crimes , crimes worth crores of rupees.



That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.



PRAYER:



In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased:

(i) Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.

(ii) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india to  legally prosecute  guilty officials  mentioned in the above said report.

(iii) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india  to uphold the constitution of india  , to protect natural resources and to protect the constitutional rights of all Indian citizens including mine.

(iv) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india  to  immediately keep all government officials mentioned in the above said report under suspension from service & to take necessary steps to protect all type of evidences.


(v) to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.



Date :  04^th November  2015………………………………Filed By : Nagaraja.M.R.

Place : Mysuru India……………………………………Petitioner in person

PIL  -  Bhopal Gas Leak 

 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION  CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015


IN THE MATTER OF

NAGARAJA . M.R  ,

editor  ,  SOS e  Clarion  of   Dalit  &  SOS  e  Voice  for  Justice ,

# LIG 2 , No 761 , HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,

Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State

.....Petitioner

Versus

Honourable  Chief Seceretary , Government of Madhya Pradesh  & Others

....Respondents


PETITION UNDER ARTICLE  21  , ARTICLE 14 – 16  ,  ARTICLE 21 , seeking Justice , compensation and for issuance of WRIT of  MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

To ,

Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship's Companion

Justices of the Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the Petitioner above named.


MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :

1. Facts of the case:

Our  whole hearted respects  to honest few in judiciary , parliament & public service. Our salutes to them , due to  honest efforts of those few  noble persons only at least democracy is surviving in India.

A .  "Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt people’s representatives , police , public servants & Judges. Some of the below mentioned judges fall among the category of churchill’s men – Rogues , Rascals & Freebooters.

B . As per the preamble of the  constitution of  India all the people , all Indian  citizens  are  equal in every respect , equally  entitled to justice , equally responsible to uphold constitution .  Only People , Citizens of India are supreme  No Judges  , No Ministers , etc are supreme. Judges , ministers , president  etc are  all  public servants constitutionally mandated to SERVE  the public , NOT  to master over them. Even after 69 years of independence  these judges , ministers have not come out of colonial hangover instead become worse treating  general public   as their servants.

C . Union carbide plant ( UCIL )  was unsafe and indulged in unsafe work practices , maintenance was inadequate.

D . Even a local journalist  through  a news publication  publicly brought to notice of authorities concerned perils of Bhopal gas plant , years  before the Bhopal gas leak , industrial accident occurred . He forewarned.

E .  Inspite of forewarning Madhya Pradesh Industries , Factories Inspectorate departments failed to take adequate steps , allowed the  UCIL plant to run  uninterrupted.

F . Inspite of forwarning Madhya Pradesh state pollution control  board failed to take adequate steps , allowed the   UCIL plant to run  uninterrupted.

G . Madhya Pradesh  state government  side by side with UCIL management is equally  responsible  for  the Bhopal gas leak case. It failed to do it’s statutory duties and to prevent disaster in time.

H . Even after the  disaster took place , Madhya Pradesh state government  and  Government of India  instead of  legally  prosecuting   Mr.Warren Anderson  ( Head of UCIL) who was in custody  , illegally , brazenly  helped him to  run away from law.

I . Even after the  disaster took place , Madhya Pradesh state government  failed to legally arrest and prosecute  union carbide top executives.

J . Union Carbide  USA head quarters  wanted lucrative Indian market , cheap Indian resources , cheap Indian labor , lax Indian laws  but  didn’t have the decency to respect Indian laws.

K . Government of India , Government of Madhya Pradesh failed  to seek extradition of Mr. Warren Anderson and other  top Union Carbide executives from USA. They failed to  get  right  cost & compensation from US Corporate  giant & US government.

L . The government of USA and  Supreme Court of USA is practicing double standards , just see the example of BP oil spillage in USA territory by a UK based  corporate giant. The government of USA  & Supreme Court of USA extracted huge cost & compensation from UK based British Petroleum  , for  American citizens  suffering due to the  oil  spillage. The arrogant Government of USA & Supreme Court of USA  shamelessly  perceives   lives  of Americans  precious  and others as cheap.  Our  spineless Indian government  , supreme court of india bows , kow tows before them.

M . The government of India & Government of Madhya Pradesh  who are themselves culprits alongwith UCIL  to cover up  their own crimes , to favor  US multinational  enacted a new law   curtailing the legal rights of  Bhopal gas victims , Indian citizens.

N . Shamelessly Supreme Court of  India , went a step further Then Chief Justice of India Justice Ahmadi & his bench colleagues  diluted the penal charges of prosecution.

O . Till date  neither  Union Carbide nor  DOW  who took over the management of Union Carbide has  paid  right cost & compensation  nor they have cared  about the clean up of Bhopal gas disaster site till date even after decades.

P . When Government of USA & Supreme Court of USA does not respect Indian Laws ,  Indian citizens  why should American Citizens , American Corporations , American Interests in Indian territory  should be  protected ?

2. Question(s) of Law:

Are Multi national Corporations & it’s top executives above law ? Is the acts of  our ministers , judges in aiding a criminal , fugitive  to run away from law  just , legal ?



3. Grounds:

Requests for equitable justice ,  legal  prosecution of guilty under  ARTICLE  21  , ARTICLE 14 – 16  ,  ARTICLE 21 , seeking Justice , compensation and for issuance of WRIT of  MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.



4. Averment:

Give what action  has been taken against culprits involved in Bhopal gas leak case  till date.

PRAYER:

In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased:

(i) Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.

(ii) Hereby , I do request  the honourable supreme court of india to  legally prosecute  Madhya Pradesh state government  industry department , factories safety & Inspectorate department  and MP Pollution Control Board officials  for criminal negligence of duties.

(iii) Hereby , I do request  the honourable supreme court of india to  legally  prosecute the MP state government & Indian government ministers and officials  who helped fugitive Mr. Warren Anderson to  run away from Indian law.

(iv)   Hereby , I do request  the honourable supreme court of india to  legally  prosecute the MP state government & Indian government ministers and officials  who failed to seek extradition of Mr. Anderson and other UC top executives from USA.

(v) )   Hereby , I do request  the honourable supreme court of india to  legally  prosecute the MP state government & Indian government ministers and officials  who failed to extract  appropriate compensation , costs from Union Carbide  or  from DOW or from counter guarantor Government of USA   till date.

(vi)  Hereby , I do request  the honourable supreme court of india to    declare void , annul the Bhopal Gas Victims  Act  and related  enactments , government  orders  passed by  both Government of India  and Government of Madhya Pradesh which  curtails the constitutional rights of Bhopal gas  leak victims.

(vii)  Hereby , I do request  the honourable supreme court of india to  legally prosecute  former chief justice of india Mr. Ahmadi & his bench colleagues  who diluted the prosecution charges  against union carbide and it’s top executives.

(viii)  Hereby , I do request  the honourable supreme court of india to  order DOW Chemicals to pay  the  appropriate cost & compensation towards Bhopal gas leak disaster.

(ix)  Hereby , I do request  the honourable supreme court of india to  order  Government of USA , Supreme Court of USA to respect  Indian Law  if they  want  reciprocal respect.  To order  government of USA & Supreme Court of USA to extradite  former top executives of Union Carbide to India ,  to ensure  appropriate payment  of cost , compensation in the said case as  government of USA  happens to be a  counter  guarantor.

(x)  To declare  President of USA & Chief Justice of USA as criminals  for their double standards ,  for aiding  perpetrators of man slaughter  at   Bhopal .

(xI) To order for  CBI investigation into assets of  Mr.Ahmadi , ministers  , government officials  who helped  union carbide & it’s executives.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.



Date :  07^th November 2015………………………………Filed By : Nagaraja.M.R.

Place : Mysuru India…………………………………………..Petitioner in person

PIL  -  RPG  Telecables Scam

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO.  OF 2015


IN THE MATTER OF

NAGARAJA . M.R

editor SOS e Clarion of Dalit & SOS e Voice for Justice
# LIG 2 , No 761 ,, HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,
Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State
.
....Petitioner

Versus

Cabinet Secretary ( Telecommunications)  Government of  India & Others

....Respondents

PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

To ,
Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship's Companion
Justices of the Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the
Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :
1. Facts of the case:
"Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for
power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt public servants.

2. Eventhough , certain PIJF companies were previously found to be involved in illegal practices , CPIO of  DOT / BSNL is hiding information . Thereby , he is trying to shield criminals.

3. By this action CPIO of  DOT / BSNL  is  aiding criminals.

2. Question(s) of Law:
DOT / BSNL  has paid crores of  rupees to PIJF  Telecable manufacturers  towards  purchase of cables. The  money is from public exchequer , people’s money . That public money is swindled by  cable manufacturers with tacit support of DOT / BSNL officials. Why no prosecution of DOT / BSNL officials & cable manufacturers ? are they above law ?

3. Grounds:
Requests for equitable justice , Accountability for public money worth crores of rupees.

4. Averment:

Private companies in their greed for money  are violating norms  in league with public officials. They  have caused loss to the public exchequer.

Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider  this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.

The Petitioner has sent many letters / appeals / petitions to supreme court of india & other courts through e-mail , DARPG website & through regular mail requesting them to consider those as PILs. But none of them were admitted , even acknowledgement for receipts were not given. See How duty conscious ,our judges are & see how our judges are sensitive towards life , liberty of citizens , common men & see how careless our judges are towards anti national crimes , crimes worth crores of rupees.  That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER:
In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased:
(i) Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.
(ii) to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.

Kindly read full details at following web page :

 CORPORATE CRIMES RPG CABLES LIMITED

http://crimesatrpg.blogspot.com/   ,

http://crimesatrpg.wordpress.com/   ,

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naghrw/message/218 ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/pil---telecable-scam

Dated : 13^th   June 2015……………………………………….. FILED BY: NAGARAJA.M.R.

Place : Mysuru , India………………………….. PETITIONER-IN-PERSON

PIL  -  Killer  Noodles  , Medicines of India

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015


IN THE MATTER OF

NAGARAJA . M.R

editor SOS e Clarion of Dalit & SOS e Voice for Justice
# LIG 2 , No 761 ,, HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,
Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State
.
....Petitioner

Versus

Chief Secretary Government of Karnataka  &  Principal Secretaries , Food & Health , Government  of India
....Respondents

PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

To ,
Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship's Companion
Justices of the Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the
Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :
1. Facts of the case:
"Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for
power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt public servants.

2. Eventhough  certain food products are banned & certain medicines are banned in developed nations , still they are permitted to be manufactured & sold in india.

3. Eventhough certain  food products & medicines are  manufactured within stipulated limits of ingredients  in  developed nations , the multinational companies cross those limits in india.

2. Question(s) of Law:
Are the lives of millions of Indians cheaper , dispensable ?  Are the lives of Indians cheaper than the lives of white skinned people in developed nations.

3. Grounds:
Requests for equitable justice , protection of indian’s lives & prosecution  of guilty public servants who permitted  manufacturers / sellers of killer noodles , killer colas & killer medicines.

4. Averment:
Multinational companies , private companies in their greed for money  are violating norms by established international bodies and making money by slowly killing people , by their  fake food products & fake medicines. Our own corrupt central government & state government public servants are  giving licenses , clearances to those companies  to carry on their illegal businesses. Who will bear the cost of loss of lives , damages to health of gullible public , hapless Indians ?

Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider  this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.

The Petitioner has sent many letters / appeals / petitions to supreme court of india & other courts through e-mail , DARPG website & through regular mail requesting them to consider those as PILs. But none of
them were admitted , even acknowledgement for receipts were not given. See How duty conscious ,our judges are & see how our judges are sensitive towards life , liberty of citizens , commonmen & see how
careless our judges are towards anti national crimes , crimes worth crores of rupees.  That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER:
In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased:
(i) Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases
to perform their duties & to answer the questions.
(ii) to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.

Kindly read full details at following web page :

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/pil---threat-to-judge  ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/pil---killer-noodles-colas-medicines  ,

Dated : 11^th  June 2015…………………………. FILED BY: NAGARAJA.M.R.

Place : Mysuru , India…………………………… PETITIONER-IN-PERSON

7 April 2015, India: OK, here’s a question: Can you and I make a profit of about Rs 90 lakh by selling a plot of government land before it is transferred to us? Can we sell it to a known crook and swindler at the height of his career? Answer: If we are common people, then no. But if we are high court judges, then yes, we can not only do it, but we can also be elevated to the position of a Chief Justice! Come, let us learn from Justice Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra, Chief Justice Of Manipur, how it is done.

Like all our High Court and Supreme Court judges, Justice Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra (http://hcmimphal.nic.in/judges.html) is immune to the laws of the land. When he was a High Court judge in Odisha, Mr. Mohapatra accepted a bribe of about Rs 90 lakh through a shady land deal with a chit-fund fraudster named Pradeep Sethy (http://tinyurl.com/pradeep-sethy), whose Artha Tatwa Chit Fund scam in Odisha was estimated by Supreme Court to be Rs 4,600 crore – roughly twice the size of the infamous Saradha scam in West Bengal. (Others put it at Rs 20,000 crore.) In this unusual sale of land, the Cuttack Development Authority actively cooperated with Justice Mohapatra. In connection with this same land transaction, Advocate General Ashok Mohanty was arrested last year (http://tinyurl.com/AG-ashok-Mohanty), but Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra — then the Acting Chief Justice of Manipur High Court — went on to be elevated to Chief Justice on 10th July 2014, well after the scandal became well-known in the public domain and the media! Isey kehte hain Independence Of Judiciary!

One however wonders about the dynamics of how this particular elevation happened. Did somebody bribe the members of the Supreme Court collegium on behalf of the hon’ble Mr Mohapatra? Or did one of the collegium judges highly recommend Mr Mohapatra as, relatively speaking, the cleanest judge available for the position of CJ of Manipur? Did this brother judge convincingly argue that a little bit of shady dealings, stamp duty evasion and money-laundering should be considered acceptable among the brotherhood of judges? Or was it the collegium’s considered decision that, since Justice Mohapatra was only exploiting well-known legal loopholes in Odisha’s Stamp Act and other laws, it was legally acceptable?

(For the record, the government of Odisha was in the habit of making such discretionary land allocations to high court judges and others. This facility was widely known and exploited for years by VVIPs. (Read http://tinyurl.com/Odisha-land-allotments. After this scandal, in December 2014, the government seems to have decided to mend its ways (http://tinyurl.com/Odisha-cancels-allotments). RTI Activist Jayanta Kumar Das, in his Letter Petition (http://tinyurl.com/Jayanta-Das-Letter2CJI) to Chief Justice of India on 18th March 2015, presented a blow-by-blow account of Justice Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra’s wrongdoings, with supporting evidence, and is awaiting some action. Tall hopes? Maybe. Wait and watch.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1.        On 11.10.2006, in his capacity of a judge of Odisha High Court, Laxmikanta Mohapatra applied for a government plot in Markata Nagar to Cuttack Development Authority (CDA). Within seven months, CDA allotted a 4000 square foot plot in Sector-11 in Bidanasi project area, Cuttack) and instructed him to pay Rs 9.8 lakhs. Having an ancestral property in Cuttack district (Stoney Road, Post- Candinichowk, P.S- Lal Bag, Dist – Cuttack), Mr Mohapatra was actually not eligible to get a government plot from CDA. So, his letter was evasively worded, stating that neither he nor his family owned land at Markata Nagar. After taking possession in July 2007, lthough the allotted plot was not yet transferred in his name, Laxmikanta Mohapatra proceeded to build a double storied building on the allotted plot. Read documents: http://tinyurl.com/Judge-gets-land

2.        within four years of the allotment of government land to him, Justice Laxmikanta Mohapatra transferred the possession of this plot for a consideration of Rs one crore. The land was “sold” by means of a simple affidavit on ten-rupees stamp paper to Pradeep Kumar Sethy, the chit-fund baron. The mode of payment was not mentioned (Cheque? Cash? Any other means? Who knows?) The affidavit said, “I have taken over the possession of the plot on 23.7.2007 and lease deed has not been executed in my fabour (sic!) till date. The plot is double storied building is existing on the plot”. As Justice Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra was not the owner of this plot, he had no right to execute and register a sale deed or to transfers this plot in favour of any party. Indeed, no law in India or in Odisha empowers anybody to transfer or sell a property to any party by means of a mere affidavit… but that is precisely what this learned judge did! Read http://tinyurl.com/Sethy-buys-from-Judge

By means of this unlawful transaction, Justice Laxmikanta Mohapatra enabled chit fund operator Pradeep Kumar Sethy to do him an undue favour of about Rs 90 lakh. Simultaneously, the honourable judge broke the law to avoid paying at least Rs 5 lakhs stamp duty and registration. And last but not least, this person who is now Chief Justice of Manipur committed offences of money-laundering by accepting and creating black money from the chit fund operator – possibly in order to provide him some undue favours.

Cuttack Development Authority aided and abetted this unlawful transaction. It transferred this plot in the name of Sri Pradeep Kumar Sethy vide its Letter No.8098/CDA/Dated 23.4.2011 based on Justice Laxmikanta Mohapatra’s affidavit and a request letter written by Pradeep Sethy.

3.        Meanwhile, lakhs of people in Odisha started raising their voice against Artha Tatwa Chit Fund Company, its Chief Managing Director Pradeep Sethy and other directors for the nonpayment of their matured fixed deposits in different branch offices of the company. Anticipating his arrest, Pradeep Sethy approached the Advocate General of Orissa High Court Sri Ashok Mohanty for an undue favour, and a deal was struck.

Barely one and a half years after the land was transferred in his name, Pradeep Sethy made another affidavit dated 03.10.2012 transferring the land plot for a consideration of Rs 1,00,01,000/- (Rupees One Crore and One Thousand) only. Again, the mode of payment was not mentioned (Cheque? Cash?). This affidavit suggests, as CBI mentions in its chargesheet, that Advocate General Ashok entered into this transaction as a consideration for giving undue favours in Orissa high Court. Read http://tinyurl.com/Sethy-sells-to-AG

4.        A case was registered against Pradeep Sethyand his staff by Balasore Town Police for cheating innocent investors (Balasore Town P.S. Case No. 352 of 2012 dated 06.10.2012, U/S 420/506/34 I.P.C etc). Pradeep Sethy applied for anticipatory bail before Odisha High Court, on 09.10.2012 (Annexure- 21). Thanks to Advocate General Ashok Mohanty, this anticipatory bail was allowed. Pradeep Sethy and all his associates were released on anticipatory bail without production of the case diary on 18.10.2012.

5.        Soon afterwards, Cuttack Development Authority took steps to ensure that the bribe paid to Ashok Mohanty reached him, i.e. the transfer of the land to Ashok Mohanty, who was possibly anxious that the land plot may be seized by the authorities, along with other assets belonging to Sethy. So, by a form-letter dated 8th February 2013, it summoned Sethy to appear in person on the same day between 2 and 4 pm with necessary documents for signature verification and verification of his identity. It is not know by what mode this letter was delivered, and so one may presume that an urgent hand-delivery was made, possibly by the Advocate General himself! Read http://tinyurl.com/CDA-writes-to-Sethy

6.        In its preliminary charge sheet in the Artha Tatwa Chit Fund Scam Case, CBI states that the consideration of Rs one crore to Justice Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra came out of misappropriated funds from the Artha Tatwa company accounts. It says, “As per records, accused P.K. Sethy had purchased said building from Justice L.K. Mohapatra for consideration of Rs. 1,00,00,000/- during April, 2011 out of the money flown from the accounts of AT Group and later, transferred the said plot to Asok Mohanty.” You may read the relevant paragraphs of the CBI chargesheet here: http://tinyurl.com/CBI-chargesheet-Artha-Tatwa

7.        The CBI chargesheet says: “Investigation disclosed that accused Asok Mohanty was the Advocate General of Odisha during the period from June, 2009 to September, 2014. He had purchased a building located at plot No. 11-3B/1332, Category-B, measuring 4000 sqft in sector -11, Bidanashi, Cuttack from the accused Pradeep Kumar Sethy. As per records, accused P.K. Sethy had purchased said building from Justice L.K. Mohapatra for consideration of Rs. 1,00,00,000/- during April, 2011 out of the money flown from the accounts of AT Group and later, transferred the said plot to Asok Mohanty. Though the sale transaction was shown to be of Rs 1,01,00,000/- but in fact an amount of Rs. 70,00,000/- only has been paid by accused Asok Mohanty to accused P.K. Sethy. During the course of investigation two money receipts were seized from the official premises of accused Asok Mohanty indicating the payment of Rs. 1,01,00,000/- towards consideration. The said money receipts bear forged signatures of accused Pradeep Kumar Sethy. During the relevant period of time i.e. during October, 2012, when the above transaction took place, agitations were going on in Odisha against the accused Pradeep Kumar Sethy and against AT Group by the depositors which is evident by registration of the 1st FIR against the AT Group on 06.10.2013 following which the accused P.K.Sethy had moved an anticipatory bail petitions before the Hon’ble high Court on 09.10.2012 and during the relevant time the present accused AG entered into a criminal conspiracy with the said Pradeep Kumar Sethy and in furtherance thereof extended his hospitality towards the accused P.K.Sethy as a result of which the anticipatory bail was granted to the accused P.K.Sethy on 18.09.2012. During the course of investigation, two separate agreements for sale of the said plots were recovered/seized from the possession of accused Asok Mohanty. In the said two agreements, the consideration agreed upon was Rs One Crore and One Lakh which is contrary to the consideration mentioned in the affidavit dt. 03.10.2012 submitted to the Cuttack Development Authority for transfer of ownership of the said property. It may be mentioned here that in the said affidavit dt. 03.10.2012, the consideration amount is mentioned as Rs. One Crore and One Thousand. Thus, it is clear that the accused Asok Mohanty misappropriated the remaining amount of Rs. 31 lakhs that he was supposed to pay to the accused Pradeep Kumar Sethy.”

8.        Significantly, CBI was able to investigate the role of Advocate General Asok Mohanty… but do they have the authority or the mandate to investigate the role played by Justice LK Mohapatra? No. And therefore, one is left wondering whether Justice Mohapatra’s role was as innocuous as the CBI chargesheet makes it out to be!

Final outcome:

o    Lakhs of citizens of Odisha – swindled. Money not yet recovered

o    Chit fund swindler Pradeep Sethy – arrested & chargesheeted by CBI.

o    Advocate General Asok Mohanty – ditto… and he lost his job.

o    Odisha High Court Judge Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra – got to keep Rs 90 lakhs that came from the savings of chit fund investors… and he was elevated to the position of Chief Justice of Manipur after the scandal.

Will somebody please rap the Supreme Court collegium on the knuckles for this decision, and impeach this honourable Chief Justice of Manipur? If this is not done, one worries that before his scheduled retirement on 10th June 2016 upon attaining the age of 62, the SC collegium (or Judicial Appointments Commission) may elevate him to the exalted status of a Supreme Court Judge, or even, who knows?Chief Justice of India? You can never tell.

Justice by the backdoor

http://www.vijayvaani.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?aid=1570 

Former CJI Y K Sabharwal - Conflict of interest

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogesh_Kumar_Sabharwal  

Allegations of Real Estate Operations by his sons[edit]

During the 2006 Delhi sealing drive, the Supreme Court under Sabharwal demonstrated extraordinary zeal in demolishing a slarge number of commercial properties which were illegally running in residential areas. There were very extensive protests every day, and considerable political pressure, due to which demolitions would often be hindered. The court monitored events and regularly reprimanded the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for its tardy progress. As a consequence of the extensive bulldozing of buildings, legal commercial properties, as in the new shopping malls, rose dramatically in price.^[4] Particularly, luxury store owners and other upscale businesses were very keen to get into the limited mall floor space.

In May 2007, five months after Sabharwal retired from the bench, the afternoon newspaper Mid-Day brought out a series of articles that presented documents showing that YK Sabharwal's sons, Chetan and Nitin Sabharwal, owned at least four small ventures, most of them oriented towards garment exports, but one in the construction arena. During Sabharwal's tenure as Chief justice, two of these firms suddenly attracted the interest of the very largest players in the shopping mall industry.

The first firm, Pawan Impex, Pvt Ltd, was registered for some time at Justice Sabharwal's official bungalow in the heart of Delhi, and later at his private house. Having the firm registered at his government-furnished house may have been illegal.^[5] In a newspaper editorial on Sept 2, 2007, Justice Sabharwal has said that he asked his sons to shift the registered address as soon as he found out about it,^[6] but in an interview recorded by Mid-Day in April 2007, after the shift, he claims complete ignorance about the matter.^[5]

More damaging is the fact that Pawan Impex, which had remained with a capitalization of 0.1 million Rs. since its founding in 2002, suddenly attracted the interest of Kabul and Anjali Chawla, owners of the large and rapidly growing real estate firm Business Park Town Planners (BPTP)^[7] which had promoted large malls like Park Centra (Gurgaon), Next Door (Faridabad), and the Parklands Shop-In Park (North Delhi). In June 2006, at the peak of the Supreme Court interest in the 2006 Delhi sealing drive, the Chawla's invested in Park Impex, raising the Share Capital 300 fold to Rs. 30 million, with equal shares between the original promoters and the Chawlas.^[8][9] Two months later, in August, the company obtained a loan of Rs. 280 million by a bank which happens to be a tenant of a BPTP property. These allegations appear to be well documented in a set of papers released by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability^[10] and were not addressed in Justice Sabharwal's public response,^[6] though he did mention that his sons were creating an IT Mall. After the partnership with BPTP in June 2007 Pawan Impex purchased 4 acres (16,000 m²) of land in NOIDA on which this IT Mall is being constructed; Mid-Day reports it to be a Rs. 560 million project with 300,000 sq ft (28,000 m²). saleable floor area.^[11]

A second firm, Harpawan Constructors, equally unknown, had also been promoted by the brothers. In October 2005, the promoters of Filatex India, a polyester yarn firm with a turnover of Rs. 3 billion in FY 2007, Purshottam and Madhu Sudan Bhageria, also the owners of real estate firm Fargo Estates, invested in Harpawan. Subsequently, the Bhagerias announced plans for developing the Square One, a mall devoted to luxury brands in Delhi. Justice Sabharwal has said that Purshottam Bhageria was his son's childhood friend, and that Harparwan Construction, despite its name, has not made any real estate or other investments.^[6]

The business of Chetan and Nitin expanded dramatically after 2005. Besides setting up several garment manufacturing factories, they have embarked on a massive real estate programme in NOIDA.

Possibly the largest project for Pawan Impex is the Rs. 560 million IT Mall being constructed in Noida. In the application to construct this mall, they had given the turnover and business of their company as "Nil". Their application for constructing this mall was approved rather mysteriously, given that in the application they had declared their company to be "Nil turnover" and "Nil business".^[5] An earlier applicant, Softedge Solutions, had been rejected on the ground that they could not satisfactorily answer questions about their previous experience in IT and their technical tie up. But Pawan Impex represented by Chetan Sabharwal with Nil business, no previous track record in IT and no technical tie up, managed to obtain permission.^[5]

Conflict of Interest charges[edit]

Whatever the facts of the case, it is widely felt that Justice Sabharwal's being active in such decisions when his sons were even partly involved in the Delhi real estate business lacked propriety, and that he should have recused himself from these cases. To the contrary, the Outlook (magazine) printed a report claiming that he had "called for and dealt with the sealing of commercial property cases in March 2005, though it was not assigned to him.".^[5]

The actions have been condemned as being at best improper and at worst an attempt "to benefit his sons who entered into partnerships with shopping malls and developers of commercial complexes".^[12] Former Solicitor General KK Sud called this behaviour "the height of indiscretion."^[13]

In terms of the content of the charges, the most damaging aspect is the participation of the shopping mall construction giant BPTP in his son's export-import business. Both the Chawla's were on the board of the firm by early 2005, around the same time that Sabharwal started taking interest in the demolition drive. What is surprising is that while Justice Sabharwal in his justification^[6] addresses the other two (lesser) charges in some detail, but he is completely silent about the BPTP connection.

Jail term for two Journalists, cartoonist, publisher[edit]

In September 2007, four Mid-Day journalists were sentenced to prison by the Delhi High Court for contempt of court (making such allegations about an ex-judge).^[14] The scribes said: "We stated facts in our stories. (in the articles relating to former Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal) and that is why we should not be hauled up for contempt. The laws in the country are outdated." The contempt laws in India do not rely on truth as the primary test for judging contempt. The columns were also somewhat tongue-in-cheek, accompanied also by a cartoon (the cartoonist has also been sentenced to four months in jail).

Justice R S Sodhi and Justice B N Chaturvedi of the Delhi High Court, in their judgement, said: "We feel, in this peculiar case, the contemnors have tarnished the image of the highest court and the sentence of four months' imprisonment would serve the justice." M K Tayal, senior journalist, said, "The judges did not go into the merits of the argument. They did not apply their minds while delivering the judgement.".^[15] "The Supreme Court in its judgement has clearly laid down the Laxman Rekha which we feel the publications have crossed." (The Laxman Rekhais a Ramayanic reference to a line that should not be crossed). However, the defendants had already processed their bail requests from the Supreme Court, and they were immediately released on bail. Tayal and three others are no more associated with Mid Day. It appears that the management of the newspaper compromised with Sabharwal and BPTP. Tayal, a former Indian army officer, objected Mid Day's policy of refraining from exposing more about the dealings of ex-CJI. Mid Day's MD Tariq Answari had written a note regarding the newspaper not carrying any more article on Sabharwal.

About the judgement, ex-law minister Shanti Bhushan stated that Parliament had in 2006 amended the Contempt of Courts Act to say that "if the allegations against a judge were found to be true, then they would not be considered contemptuous". In view of this, the judgement, he said, may be "only aimed at terrifying the media and an attempt to curb truthfulness."^[12]

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LIMITED - WHERE IS ACCOUNTABILITY?

Dear mukesh & anil ambani,

The reliance industries has always got a favourable treatment from the state & central governments.there are allegations that ,

1.years ago, the central government gave import concessions for import of certain raw materials of textile sector ,which hugely benefitted the P.F.Y & TEXTILE projects of your's ie reliance industries.

2.the O.N.G.C which has painstakingly surveyed the oil & gas reserves & prepared a list of lists,gave that list & you got godavari basin oil & gas project from the government .O.N.G.C could have developed it & earned millions.

3.few months back you were charged both by the government & cellular operators (GSM) that you are giving S.T.D & ROAMING FACILITIES to your reliance phone subscribers.your's was only a W.L.L. they even claimed that you are misusing a legal loophole & causing crores of losses to the government & other GSM operators. however while the issue was before the T.R.A.I, the trai legalized your actions by announcing unified licence for telecom operators.

4.now you are charged by the government of re-routing ISD CALLS as local calls,thereby causing crores of losses to the government & BSNL.this time also you may get the reprieve from the government. the government ,if a commonman does not pay his electric bills in time slaps interest & cuts down the electric supply immediately. however the same government ,even if your company has been alleged of causing crores of rupees losses to the government & other players, always enacts favourable laws for you like a SANTA CLAUS.

WILL YOU PLEASE CLARIFY mr.mukesh ambani & mr.anil ambani?
the TRAI announced unified licence regime in haste that too with retrospective effects.so all the charges against reliance were dropped. in the same vein as unified licence got retrospective effect , why not the government re-imburse the differece amount out of hefty fees collected from other cellular operators ? take the reliance fees as bench mark.anyway , finally commonman is the looser.

10 things you should know about the Reliance KG-D6 gas deal

Reacting to Arvind Kejriwal’s presser where he said that an FIR will be filed against Mukesh Ambani, current oil minister Veerappa Moily and former oil minister Murli Deora over the gas pricing formula, Moily said that we should sympathize with his ignorance since kejriwal doesn’t know how the government functions. He reiterated that the norms were being followed and there is a system for fixing prices. 

ALSO READ: Kejriwal orders FIR against Mukesh, Moily

So who is actually ignorant in this case? Were the norms actually followed or has Kejriwal raised some valid points. 

ALSO READ: T N Ninan: One more! 
 

Here is a refresher and ready reckoner on the entire KG D6 gas basin controversy.

1) What is KG D6 basin?

Krishna Godavari (KG) Basin is spread across 50,000 sq km in the Krishna River and Godavari river basins near the coast of Andhra Pradesh. The site Dhirubhai-6 (D6) is where Reliance Industries discovered the biggest gas reserves in India. In government records, the 7,645 sq km block is known as KG-DWN-98/1. The KG basin is considered to be the largest natural gas basin in India.

2) How did Reliance Industries get into KG basin?

Government of India opened up hydrocarbon exploration and production (E&P) in the country to private and foreign players in 1991. Small and medium sized blocks were opened up in this round which was followed up by giving out bigger blocks in 1999 as per the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP). Through NELP, Reliance bagged the rights to explore the D6 block. 

3) Did government have a role after the block was handed over?

Since all mining resources belong to the people of India, government monitors the exploration and production of these. In the case of oil and gas sector, government enters into contractual relationship with the private player through a Production Sharing Contract (PSC). The PSC lays out roles and responsibilities of all parties, specifies the detailed procedures to be followed at different stages of exploration, development and production. It also specifies the cost recovery and profit sharing in the contract. Directorate General of Hydrocarbon (DGH) monitors the PSC. A PSC was signed between the government of India (GOI) and undivided Reliance Industries and its minority partner Niko Resources (10 per cent stake) for exploration and production of oil and gas.

4) What happened to KG D6 when the Reliance group split?

Even before production could start from the KG D6 wells, Reliance group was split vertically between the two brothers, with the gas business of Reliance Industries remaining with Mukesh Ambani, the elder brother. The brothers fought over this huge reserve of gas even though it was not theirs in the first place. The very first line of a production sharing contract clearly says that “By virtue of article 297 of the Constitution of India, Petroleum is a natural state in the territorial waters and the continental shelf of India is vested with the Union of India”. 

The brothers while splitting their father’s empire split the gas reserves too. A family pact between the two brothers, which was never made public till the issue blew out of proportion, was at the core of the dispute. Anil Ambani owned RNRL (Reliance Natural Resources Ltd) citing the agreement by the brothers in 2005, claimed it had rights to gas from Reliance KG basin for 17 years at $2.34 per mmBtu (million British thermal unit).The Supreme Court finally settled the matter by saying that ‘the government owns the gas till it reaches its ultimate consumer and parties must restrict their negotiation within the conditions of the government policy’.

Here the role of the government needs to be highlighted. None of the ministries involved in the process, including the oil ministry which Moily now represents, raised the point that the gas reserves belonged to the country and was not a property of the Ambani family. Even the Prime Minister, ManMohan Singh meekly requested the brothers to settle their differences in the interests of the country.

But how did the Ambani brothers arrive at this magic figure of $2.34 per mmBtu when there was no benchmark. In fact ONGC was supplying gas to the government at half the rate.

5) How did Anil Ambani arrive at the price of $2.34 per mmBtu for KG basin gas?

In June 2004, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) invited bids for supply of gas for its 2600 MW power plant in Kawas and Gandhar. Reliance Industries, hopeful of starting production of gas by the time NTPC’s power plant is ready bid for the project and was awarded it as the lowest ‘techno-commercial’ bidder. A Letter of Intent (LOI) was issued to Reliance Industries to supply 132 trillion units of gas per annum to NTPC for 17 years at a price of $2.34 per mmBtu. Anil Ambani used this as a basis for asking gas for his power plant. 

6) Why is the NTPC-Reliance dispute all about? 

Reliance Industries refused to sign the contract for supply of gas. Jairam Ramesh, the Minister of Power in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha in 2009 said that “After issuance of LOI, RIL did not come forward to sign the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement and sought major changes in the draft GSPA.In spite of all the efforts (by NTPC) RIL did not sign the GSPA agreed during the bidding process.”

NTPC dragged Reliance to Bombay High Court on December 20, 2005 but unfortunately the case that has dragged on. The case after nine years is still sub judice. Here again the government's disinterest in protecting the interests of its own PSU has been a matter of much debate.

While NTPC was fighting the case with Reliance in the Bombay High Court, the government referred the matter to an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) in 2007 headed by none other than the current President Pranab Mukherjee, who was then the finance minister. EGoM approved a rate hike of $4.2 per mmBtu of gas. This decision was taken without a single unit of gas coming out of the KG basin. 

Reliance grabbed at this opportunity and said that it could not supply gas at a price lower than the mandated price set by the government.

7) How did Pranab Mukherjee arrive at the price of $4.2 mmBtu for gas?

The price was arrived by Reliance through its ‘price discovery mechanism’. As per a Reliance crafter formula, user companies were asked to quote a price which gave them a choice of arriving at a value between $4.54 and $4.75 per mmBtu. Reliance initially forwarded a figure of $4.59 which was later brought down to $4.3, but Pranab Mukherjee claimed victory by announcing a figure of $4.2 per mmBtu. 

The brazenness of the entire exercise by the government can be seen from the fact that the objections raised by the Principal Advisor, Power and Energy to the government of India, Surya P Sethi along with the then cabinet secretary were ignored by the government. Surya questions the recommendation saying that nowhere is the cost of production more than $1.43. 

8) Is it exploration or exploitation?

A CAG report released in 2011 (initiated in 2007 but delayed due to non-co-operation) on Performance Audit of Hydrocarbon PSCs castigated the oil ministry along with Reliance to retain its entire KG-D6 block in contravention of the PSC. As per the PSC, Reliance should have relinquished 25 per cent of the total area outside the discoveries in 2004 and 2005, but the entire area was declared as a discovery area (after initial objections) and the company was allowed to retain it. Without drilling adequate wells, Reliance kept on claiming that there was potential for petroleum. In CAG’s words this was done to confuse potential/prospectivity with actual discovery of hydrocarbons. The move allowed Reliance to keep the entire area to itself without following the norms laid under the PSC. 

In a recent report CAG has said that Reliance moved directly from discovery to commercial production, skipping the intermediate appraisal programme step required as under PSC. CAG asks, without an appraisal programme how did the government and DGH ascertain the amount of gas in the well? And if they did not know how much gas was there in the well, what is the logic and basis of blaming Reliance of hoarding gas. Further, as pointed out by CAG, how did DGH assure itself of reliability of the development plan, production rate and production costs without the appraisal report?

9) Why more investments are bad?

CAG pointed out that as per the PSC, more investments, especially in initial stages would mean more profit for the operator and less for the government. This structure gives inadequate incentive for operators to reduce capital expenditure and provides them with substantial incentives to ‘front-end’ capital expenditure. Share of government profit varies from 85 per cent in a low investment scenario to 5 per cent in a high investment scenario. This explains the case of exaggerated investment made against Reliance Industries. 

Incidentally, as pointed out by V Ranganathan of IIM Bangalore in his article in Economic Times, the case of exaggerated investment was first pointed out by Anil Ambani, where he pointed out that investment as per Reliance’s plan is increasing four times but production is expected to only double. Reliance revised its production estimates from 40 mmscmd (million metric standard cubic metres per day) to 80 mmscmd while increasing its investment from $2.4 billion to $8.8 billion.

10) How was the new pricing formula arrived at?
 

Former RBI governor C Rangarajan came out with a formula which has been followed nowhere in the world, which has resulted in Reliance (and other players too) getting a price on import parity basis. Surya Sethi, former Principal Adviser, Power and Energy, Government of India does not mince words when he asks the Prime Minister in an open letter [Read here] not to burden the nation with Rangarajan Committee’s madness that only benefit a select few. 

Conclusion

Sethi’s open letter to the Prime Minister sums up the entire issue when he points out that the CAG’s findings reveal how crony capitalism benefited RIL. The pre-qualification norms were diluted to ensure RIL qualified, the claimed size of gas discoveries, the field development plans and the investment outlays proposed escaped rigorous due diligence says Sethi. Above all, the company’s commitments under the PSC on gas output were not enforced. 

The entire episode stinks of anything but natural gas. While Moily may claim that system was followed, there is enough evidence out there that says otherwise. 

THE MEGA 4G SCAM BY GOVERNMENT AND RELIANCE

After the 2G spectrum allocation scam of the UPA Government, another major telecom scandal in the allocation of 4G spectrum (BWA) has come to light by the recent CAG report. In fact, AAP leader and senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of Reliance Industries’ telecom license and a through criminal investigation. Supreme Court had issued notice to Government and Reliance on that petition on 9^th May 2014.

The factum of the scam is this. The UPA Government in March 2013 allowed a back-door entry of Reliance Jio Infocomm into voice telephony in violation of the judgment of the Supreme Court in the 2G case. This was done at the price discovered in 2001 of Rs 1,658 crores for a pan-India licence, which is the same price that was struck down by the Supreme Court in the 2G judgment because of having caused a huge loss to the public exchequer.

During May-June 2010 the auctions for 3G and 4G were concluded. The 3G auction fetched Rs 16,750.58 crore for 5+5 MHz spectrum in 2100 MHz (or 2.1 GHz) band. Thus, per MHz price worked out to be Rs 1,675 crore. Immediately, after the 3G auction, the 4G auction began which fetched Rs 12,847.77 crore for 20 MHz pan-India license in the 2300 MHz (or 2.3 GHz) band. This works out to be Rs 642.39 crore per MHz. This was so because all documents stated that 4G spectrum was for data services only, whereas 3G spectrum can be used for both data and voice telephony.

Infotel Broadband Services Pvt Ltd (IBSPL) emerged as the only company to have acquired pan-India 4G spectrum. IBSPL had an internet license since November 2007 and had just one subscriber with revenue of Rs 16.28 lakhs during 2009-10, and its authorized share capital was Rs 3 crore and the paid up capital was Rs 2.51 crore. Infotel Digicomm Pvt Ltd (IDPL) held 99.99% share of the IBSPL at the time of submission of application in March 2010.

Within hours of completion of 4G auction on 11.06.2010, IBSPL increased the authorised share capital from Rs 3 crore to Rs 6,000 crore. On 17.06.2010, the company authorized its Board of Directors to allot 475 crore equity share of Rs 10 each to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and 25 crore equity share of Rs 10 to Infotech Digicomm Pvt Ltd (IDPL) aggregating to the equity capital of Rs 5,000 crore. On the same day, the company also decided to change from a private company to Public Limited Company (Infotel Broadband Services Ltd). Thus, the company within a week of winning the 4G spectrum disposed off 95% shares to RIL while 5% was retained by IDPL. Much later in March 2013, the company was renamed as Reliance Jio Infocomm Pvt Ltd.

CAG has found that the Government did not protect its interest at the time of framing eligibility criteria for the 4G auction. It allowed participation of internet (ISP) licensees without ensuring adequate safeguards in terms of net-worth of the companies participating in the auction. It found that while a UAS licensee or even a new company without a license was allowed to participate in the 4G auction, but they had to pass through the test of net-worth in order to become eligible, but no such criteria was specified for the existing internet (ISP) licensees participating in 4G auction. CAG observed that this criterion was important even for ISP-A licensees as they had to participate in the bidding where the reserve price was fixed at Rs 1,750 crore per pan-India license for 20 MHz spectrum in 2.3 GHz band. The only company which won the pan-India 4G license, was an ISP-A licensee, Infotel Broadband Services Pvt Ltd (IBSPL), a HFCL promoted group company. CAG has stated that IBSPL was given the ISP-A license in November 2007, and it had just one leased-line subscribers as on December 2009 and total revenue of just Rs 16.28 lakh for FY 2009-10. The paid-up capital was just Rs 2.51 crore and 99.99 per cent of it was held by Infotel Digicom Pvt Ltd at the time of submission of application for the 4G auction in March 2010. Thus, this company could not be termed as a serious player. And there were no checks in-built in the auction process to eliminate such non-serious players, CAG has observed.

After the company was taken over Reliance Industries, the Government allowed it to provide voice telephony (which was earlier prohibited) without conducting a fresh auction. This was done at the rate of Rs 1,658 crore which was fixed in 2001, and had been struck down by the Supreme Court in the 2G case for causing huge loss to public exchequer. The CAG has now concluded that besides vitiating the auction process, an undue advantage of Rs 22,842 crore was given to RIL at the cost of exchequer. The relevant part of the CAG’s report is reproduced below: -

It was found that the basis of the decision i.e. payment of entry fee of Rs 1,658 crore by ISP licensee for a permission to Pan India provision of mobile voice services using BWA spectrum considered by the DoT Committee, Telecom Commission and the MOC&IT, was primarily intended to fill the gap between the eligibility criterion stipulated for participation in the 3G / BWA auction in 2010 as UAS / CMTS licensees had paid entry fee of Rs 1,658 crore while ISP licensees had paid only Rs 30 lakh.

The DoT Committee, Telecom Commission and the MOC&IT however ignored the fact that the quantum of entry fee i.e. Rs 1,658 crore was basically discovered in 2001 through the bidding for the 4^th Cellular licenses. Market conditions since then have changed drastically, and this price needed to be modified to reflect the present value. Neither the DoT Committee / TC under the Chairmanship of the Secretary DoT nor the MOC&IT felt the need for revision of the price discovered in 2001 as the entry fee for UASL in 2013, even when the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India had cancelled 122 licenses granted in 2008 on the basis of the same entry fee stating that it was impossible for them to approve the action of the DoT.

Therefore, by permitting ISPs to provide mobile voice service using BWA spectrum won in 2010 auction post-auction, the government has brought ISP licensees with BWA spectrum at par with UAS / CMTS 3G spectrum winners so far as provision of services are concerned – Voice, Data, etc., and post auction interpretation of such vital nature would appear to be arbitrary, inconsistent and not appropriate. Hence, IBSPL, now Reliance JioInfocomm, appeared to have been accorded undue advantage of Rs 22,842 crore i.e. the difference of the proportionate prices for 20 MHz block size in 2.1 GHz spectrum band (3G spectrum) and 2.3 GHz spectrum band (BWA spectrum) plus the Net Present Value of the entry fee for UASL at the end of FY 2009-10 (Rs 20,653 crore plus Rs 3,847 crore - Rs 1,658 crore). Besides, the sanctity of the entire auction process has been rendered vitiated due to post auction interpretations and interventions after three years. It was therefore no surprise that Reliance JioInfocomm was among the first group of companies which applied for UL immediately after introduction of the scheme and obtained the Letter of Intent (LoI). Had the spectrum blocks been specified and declared as liberalised spectrum blocks i.e. open for all technology / services in the NIA in February 2010, there was no doubt that bidders would have taken informed decision for putting up their bid and the market discovered price would have been significantly different for 3G and BWA spectrum.

Therefore, the Aam Aadmi Party demands the NDA government to immediately cancel the telecom license and allotment of 4G spectrum given to Reliance Industries and also a registration of an FIR by the CBI for a through criminal investigation into this scam involving Reliance Industries and the UPA Government.

Petroleum Ministry document leak: It’s a Rs 10,000 cr scam, claims accused Santanu Saikia; R-ADAG office raided

The dramatic claim comes after police arrested five senior executives from top energy firms and two consultants, including Sanatnu Saikia in the Petroleum Ministry 'leak' case.

A key accused in the corporate espionage case today claimed that it was a Rs 10,000 crore scam that he was trying to uncover as police said documents seized from corporate executives related to “national security” that can attract Official Secrets Act provisions.

Meanwhile, a local court remanded the five arrested corporate executives in police custody till February 24 for further questioning. Delhi Police also conducted raids here and in nearby Noida looking for stolen documents from offices of petroleum companies.

Santanu Saikia, a former journalist, now running an energy consultant running a website, claimed to reporters outside an Crime Branch office that it was a Rs 10,000 crore scam, which he was trying to uncover. “Please quote me,” he said as policemen took him in for interrogation.

Reacting to his claim, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Saikia was saying such things for covering up his own defence.

“Let him spill out all the information he has. The primary accusation is that somebody stole the papers from the ministry. Police is investigating. Anybody has the right to tell everything to the police,” he said.

Pradhan said police is doing an independent job and everything will be clear after investigation. Law will take its course, whoever they may be, he said when asked about the arrest of executives of private companies.

Producing the five corporate executives arrested yesterday before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal, the police said, “National interest was taken for a ride in the case.

“Documents related to national security have also been recovered. This may attract charges under the Official Secrets Act.”

The five–Shailesh Saxena from RIL, Vinay Kumar from Essar, KK Naik from Cairns, Subhash Chandra from Jubilant Energy and Rishi Anand from Reliance ADAG–who were produced in the court in police custody till February 24 for further questioning.

The police told the court that they have to consult the concerned ministries regarding the documents which have been recovered from the possession of the accused and their custodial interrogation was required to confront them with the same.

These five accused were procuring these sensitive documents at the behest of their senior officials, some of whom might be interrogated in the ongoing investigation, police said.

The advocates appearing for these five accused vehemently opposed the police’s plea seeking five days police custody, contending that their clients have been illegally detained since February 18 and 19.

The defence counsel also contended that there was nothing to be recovered from their clients and the police have not told the court regarding the specific allegations against these accused.

With the arrest of these five accused, the total number of arrests in the case rose to 12. Seven others were produced in the court yesterday out of whom four were sent to police custody till February 23 and three were remanded to judicial custody for two weeks.

Police sources said that Subhash Chandra, a senior executive with Jubilant Energy, who was arrested along with four other top officials of energy companies yesterday, was taken to Jain’s office in the morning.

After searching Jain’s office, the police team took him to the Noida office of Jubilant Energy. His office and some other rooms were searched by the police to recover stolen documents.

Office of another petroleum company whose executive was also one of them arrested was also raided by the police. Laptop and computers of the arrested officials have been seized by investigators which would be sent for forensic analysis.

Asked about the issue, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said, “We have searched places which were necessary for the course of investigation. We may further raid places as our aim is to reach the bottom of the whole thing.”

The police chief also said that investigation is on in the case and it will end only when a charge sheet will be filed.

“We need to know since how long this has been going on and who all benefited from it,” said a senior official.

According to police, all these company executives allegedly received stolen documents which have been recovered by police teams during raids from their establishments.

Saxena is Manager, corporate affairs, Reliance Industries Limited(RIL); Chandra is senior executive, Jubilant Energy; Anand is DGM, Reliance ADAG; Vinay is DGM, Essar and Naik is GM, Cairns India.

They have been booked under IPC sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property).

The case FIR, produced in a local court yesterday said an input on the National Gas Grid for the Finance Minister’s Budget speech of 2015-16 is among the various “secret” documents recovered from the accused.

The office of Reliance ADAG group at a premier five-star hotel here was also raided today by police in this connection.

“We are basically looking for the stolen documents from the establishments linked to the 12 people we have arrested so far. Searches are being conducted at various places in Delhi and NCR,” said a senior police official associated with the probe.

The raids have been confined to this region and not being carried out “across the country” as was speculated, he added.

Sources, meanwhile, said that police had also stumbled upon another module operated separately from the those arrested so far and their ‘area of operation’ was another plum ministry.

They added that a junior level officer and some more corporate executives are under scanner in this connection and arrests are expected by Monday.

KG basin controversy: SC seeks response from Reliance

The Supreme Court on Friday granted six weeks time to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to respond to the final CAG report, which found alleged irregularities including in payments made to the contractors on drilling of D6 wells at the Krishna-Godavari basin.

The apex court posted the next hearing for March 20 during which it would examine the RIL's response to the CAG report that had sought disallowance of $357.16 million (about Rs 2,179 crore) expenditure RIL incurred on drilling of wells and payments to contractors in KG-D6.

Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar said the Centre can make comments on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) recommendations and findings only after getting the report of the Parliament's Public Account Committee which is examining it.

The order was passed during a brief hearing of petitions filed in 2013 by senior CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta and NGO Common Cause, challenging the then UPA government decision to double the price of natural gas from $4.2 to $8.4 per mmbtu and seeking cancellation of RIL's contract for exploration of oil and gas from the KG basin.

The third PIL on the issue has been filed by advocate M L Sharma. A bench headed by Justice T S Thakur also allowed Dasgupta and other petitioners to file their response to the NDA government's fresh guidelines which would "supersede" the earlier UPA dispensation's policy on price fixation for natural gas, including that from KG basin, which has been the bone of contention between the Centre and RIL.

The Solictor General on November 14, 2014 had said before the bench, which also comprised justices J Chelameswar and Kurian Joseph, that the 'new domestic natural gas policy' was approved by the government on October 18 raising natural gas price to $5.61 per mmbtu from November 1 and had said that "recommendation of the Rangarajan Committee would not be given effect".

The Rangarajan formula on gas pricing was approved by the previous UPA government. Rangarajan was Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the then Prime Minister.

In its second audit of RIL's eastern offshore KG-D6 block, the CAG on November 28, 2014 recommended disallowing the company from recovering $279.8 million in cost of three wells as well as a part of expenditure the firm had incurred in area which was improperly declared discovery area.

The CAG, in its report tabled in the Parliament, found irregular payment of $427.48 million to contractors, of which it sought disallowance of at least $77.36 million cost. Earlier RIL's senior advocate Harish Salve had said "he is not happy with the new guidelines (on gas pricing)".

While the Centre has maintained that the issue raised by Dasgupta has been addressed with the new guidelines, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, had said several other issues needed to be argued.

He had said that the draft CAG report itself suggested that RIL "hugely over-estimated" the reserves of the KG gas block and other irregularities are cited.

Among the other issues, the NGO has alleged that fraud was committed by RIL requiring government to take back the field and there was a need for court-monitored probe on the issue.

Dasgupta and the NGO had said government should be asked not to make "any further increase" in the price of gas produced by RIL from KG basin.

RIL has refuted the allegation of extraneous consideration for the increase in the gas price from $4.2 to $8.4 per mmbtu for the gas taken from the existing fields like KG D-6 basin. RIL had submitted that the gas output from KG basin has fallen to 8 mscmd against expected 80 mscmd due to "technical reason".

M Veerappa Moily, the then Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, was also named as one of the respondents in the petitions. The PILs have also sought imposition of penalty on private parties for failure in adhering to commitments.

The petitioners have sought a direction for a thorough audit by CAG of the working of the production-sharing contract (PSC) governing KG block, gold plating by RIL, underproduction by RIL and all related issues.

The former CPI MP had alleged collusion between the government and the company, saying RIL "is holding country's energy security to ransom". He also said that natural resources belong to the citizens and the government.

The Common Cause has supported Dasgupta's arguments and referred to controversial intercepted telephonic conversations between former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with others to support the allegation of collusion.

The NGO has urged that Centre should wait for the outcome of the two petitions pending before the apex court. 

Kejriwal trains his guns on Reliance Industries Limited ( RIL ), wants gas pact cancelled

Kejriwal attributes Jaipal’s ouster to his refusal to carry out Mukesh Ambani’s diktat
India Against Corruption on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the NDA government as well as the Manmohan Singh government for protecting the interests of corporates, especially Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). It demanded that the government’s contract with RIL be scrapped as the Mukesh Ambani’s company allegedly cut down on production from its KG D6 gas- field to gain huge profits after the proposed gas price revision.
Linking the shifting of Jaipal Reddy from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry to his refusal to follow RIL’s diktat to revise the price before the scheduled deadline of April 2014, IAC leader Arvind Kejriwal said Mr. Reddy was shunted out as he refused to bow to RIL, arguing that a price revision would fetch the company an additional profit of Rs. 43,000 crore.
“Mr. Reddy had prepared a note for the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), in which he mentioned that acceptance of RIL’s demand would mean an additional profit of Rs. 43, 000 crore [to the company]. Most of this gas is used in power and fertilizer production. Increasing the gas price would mean an additional financial burden of Rs. 53,000 crore on the Central and State governments. This would in turn mean higher power and fertilizer prices… or a higher subsidy burden on the taxpayer,” Mr. Kejriwal said in his third expose, after targeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra and BJP president Nitin Gadkari.
Mr. Kejriwal, who addressed journalists, along with Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, said that in 2006, it was Mani Shankar Aiyar who got the axe and Murli Deora was brought in to allow RIL to increase capex from $2.39 billion to $8.8 billion and to increase the gas price from $2.43 per Million Metric British Thermal Units (mmBtu) to $4.2 mmBtu. “We demand that the contract with RIL for the KG D6 be scrapped immediately and the state-run companies like ONGC be given the block for future production. The government should immediately put in place adequate systems to get full production from the KG D6 at the cheapest prices for the country and its people.”
Mr. Kejriwal said that under RIL’s contract, the company was supposed to sell gas at $4.2 per mmBtu until March 2014. But midway, the company wanted the price increased to $14.2 per mmBtu.
Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Bhushan alleged that to pressure the government to revise the gas price, RIL had substantially reduced production for over the past one year. The total consumption in the country stood at 156 Million Metric Standard Cubic Metre Per Day (mmscmd). RIL was supposed to produce 80 mmscmd from 2009. However, it was turning out just 27 mmscmd. “Production was being artificially kept low to blackmail the government. They are not just hoarding gas but also forcing various consumers to buy gas from abroad. Gas from abroad costs $13 per mmBtu, and if RIL’s demand for increasing the gas price is accepted, it will lead to the shutdown of several gas-based power plants and an increase in power and fertilizer prices. It will result in Rs. 43,000 crore of additional benefits to RIL.”
Mr. Kejriwal said the drastic reduction in gas production forced many gas-based power plants to shut down or run with a reduced capacity. “Today, power from a gas-based power plant costs Rs. 3 a Kwh (Kilowatt hour). If the gas price is increased from $4.2 to $14.2 as demanded by RIL, power rates will go up to Rs. 7 a Kwh. “We urge the people of this country not to allow the government to pass the huge benefit to RIL and [to] flood the Petroleum Ministry and its new Minister, Veerappa Moily, with RTIs [Right to Information questions] … so that he does not dare to undertake any revision. We should not allow this government, which changes Ministers at the instance of Mr. Ambani, to work at the direction of RIL.”
Mr. Kejriwal played the clippings of tapes, involving conversations between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s son-in-law Rajnan Bhattacharya. “First, the NDA regime favoured RIL in the structuring of the deal in 2000, and various modifications were made thereafter.” Citing the CAG’s report on the KG D6, he alleged that the motivated structuring of the contract could cost the exchequer up to Rs. 1 lakh crore.
He said RIL had signed a contract with state-run NTPC in 2004 to supply gas for its power plants at $2.34 per mmBtu. However, the company backed out of the deal, and the matter was in court. “UPA I or UPA II did not deem it fit to vigorously take up the case of NTPC against RIL, but worked in a proactive manner to get the price revised for RIL gas. The EGoM, headed by the then Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, revised the gas price to $4.2 per mmBTU, and by doing so, it gave RIL an undue benefit of Rs. 8,000 crore. 

Kejriwal’s latest: Reliance blackmailing govt, Mukesh Ambani running India

NEW DELHI: S Jaipal Reddy was axed as petroleum minister for refusing a Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries’ proposal to hike charges of gas it supplied to state-run power plants, India Against Corruption’s Arvind Kejriwal charged on Wednesday, demanding that the Krishna Godavari basin allotted to the company be taken back. 
“Mukesh Ambani is running the country it seems,” Kejriwal told the media here. “Jaipal Reddy was removed as he refused to hike the charges levied by Reliance Industries to supply gas to the NTPC (National Thermal Power Corp).” 
Reliance called the charges “irresponsible”. 
According to Kejriwal, the KG basin was awarded to Reliance in 2000 by the NDA government when the company agreed to supply gas to the NTPC for the next 17 years at $2.34 per unit. 
But, said Kejriwal, the company revised the rate to $4.25 per unit in 2007 which then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee agreed to as the head of an empowered group of ministers. 
“The entire contract was meant to benefit Reliance because … the cost would be determined by the company, and if the cost increases, so will the profit,” he said, adding this was unheard of in business. 
The company, he said, revised the rate to $4.2 per unit in 2007, which then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee agreed to as head of an empowered group of ministers, benefiting Reliance to the tune of Rs.10,000 crore. 
Kejriwal alleged that in 2006 then petroleum minister Mani Shankar Iyer was removed and Murli Deora brought in to increase Reliance Industries’ capital expenditure from $2.39 billion to $8.8 billion, and to hike gas price from $2.34 per unit to $4.2 per unit. 
Later, the company wanted the rate further hiked to $14.2. Jaipal Reddy, who reportedly did not agree to the proposal, was shunted out in Sunday’s cabinet rejig, said the activist-politician. 
Kejriwal released to the media a “secret” document of the petroleum ministry that said that accepting the Reliance demand would generate for it an additional profit of Rs 43,000 crore ($8.5 billion). 
“In order to pressurize the government, RIL substantially reduced its production of natural gas,” a statement from India Against Corruption said. 
“Production has been artificially kept low to blackmail the government. They are not just hoarding the gas but also forcing various consumers to buy gas from abroad.” 
When Reliance sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention, he asked the attorney general to find out if the gas prices should be hiked or not. 
“Why did the PM not show similar concern when NTPC was forced to accept higher gas price from RIL? Why is the PM not pulling up Reliance for not producing gas as per their commitment? Why did the PM not seek legal opinion when the country’s interests were at stake?” 
Kejriwal, who was flanked by fellow activists Prashant Bhushan and Manish Sisodia, demanded that Reliance Industries’ “blackmailing” should be immediately stopped. 
“Their KG Basin contract should be cancelled. The government should immediately put in place adequate systems to get full production from KG Basin at the cheapest price for the country.” 
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asked the prime minister to respond to IAC and explain why Jaipal Reddy was dropped from the petroleum ministry. 
“Is it any malfunction in the ministry that has persuaded Manmohan Singh to effect this change? Or is that Jaipal Reddy was not found a ‘convenient’ minister? Or is this another example of corporate interests taking precedence over national good?” BJP leader Jaswant Singh asked. 
After taking on Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra and BJP president Nitin Gadkari, anti-corruption activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday charged Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man and chairman of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), with getting undue
related stories
• Cong slams IAC over RIL allegations, questions source of funding
• RIL denies IAC allegations, says chargess made at ‘behest of vested interests’
• BJP to govt: Was Jaipal shifted to benefit RIL?
favours from the government over a contract to develop natural gas fields.
The allegations pertain to RIL’s D-6 block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, India’s largest gas producing field off the eastern coast in Andhra Pradesh, which is being jointly developed by RIL and its partners, Britain’s BP and Canadian firm Niko Resources.
Kejriwal and his colleague, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, termed the deal a “classic case of crony capitalism” and said both the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) governments were responsible for RIL getting this contract.
The contract, signed in 2000 by the then NDA government, according to Kejriwal, would rob the national exchequer of revenues to the tune of Rs. 45,000 crore if RIL’s demands for a higher price for its gas were met.
The government has not decided yet on a demand by RIL to raise the price of gas from the field to $14.25 per unit from $4.25, the subject of a long-running controversy.
In a brief statement, RIL dismissed the charges as being “devoid of any truth or substance”.
“Irresponsible allegations made by IAC at the behest of vested interests without basic understanding of the complexities of a project of this nature do not merit a response,” it added.
Petroleum minister Veerappa Moily refused to comment.
“I have better things to do,” he said.
“I don’t want to respond.”
The press conference also witnessed high drama when a Congress worker wanted to question Kejriwal, but was heckled by camerapersons and IAC volunteers, and forced to leave the venue.
Kejriwal based his attack on the government and RIL on the so-called ‘Radia tapes’, a collection of phone taps from between 2007 and 2009 in one of which someone thought to be former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya is heard telling RIL and Tata Group’s corporate lobbyist Niira Radia that Ambani had told him that “Congress to apni dukaan hai”.
The unearthing of the Radia tapes had triggered accusations of corporate influence in the distribution of ministers’ portfolios in the UPA’s second term.
On Wednesday, Kejriwal gave this accusation fresh legs by linking Jaipal Reddy’s removal from the petroleum ministry on Sunday to his run-ins with RIL over the pricing of gas.
He also gave a populist spin to his allegations by linking the government’s restriction on the supply of cheap LPG cylinders to the public to the high profits being allowed to RIL.
“We want to know why the PM’s heart beats only for RIL. Why did he not seek the attorney general’s opinion when NTPC was not getting gas at cheap rates?” Kejriwal said.
State-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) had sought cheaper gas to fire its power plants.
* In 2006, Mani Shankar Iyer was removed and Murli Deora brought in to increase RIL capex from $ 2.39 billion to $ 8.8 billion and to increase gas price from $2.34 per mmBTU to $ 4.2 per mmBTU
* In 2012, Jaipal Reddy has been removed and Moily brought in to increase gas prices from $ 4.2 per mmBTU to $ 14.2 mmBTU and to condone RIL’s blackmailing of reducing gas production
* Both BJP and Congress involved. BJP signed a sweet deal with RIL in 2000. Congress faithfully implemented it
* If RIL demand of increasing the gas price to $ 14.2 is accepted, it would lead to shut down of several gas based power plants and increase in power and fertilizer prices
* By this deal, RIL would benefit by an additional Rs. 43,000 crore
* In Nira Radiia tapes, Ranjan Bhattacharya (Vajpayee’s son in law) is heard telling Nira that Mukesh Ambani told him –“Congress to ab apni dukaan hai”
* Huge benefits given to RIL in last one decade despite flagrant violations of various agreements by RIL. Benefits to RIL causing serious price rise in the country.
* “In order to pressurize the government, RIL substantially reduced its production of natural gas. Total consumption of natural gas in the country is 156 mmscmd. According to agreement, RIL was supposed to produce 80mmscmd (more than 50% of the total demand) from 2009.”
* “RIL got this contract during NDA regime in the year 2000. The contract was meant to favor RIL right from the beginning. In any business, increase in costs means decrease in profits.”
The IAC press release alleged that performance of RIL so far has been much worse than perhaps the worst performing government department.
1. 4 times cost escalation within 2 years from $ 2.39 billion in 2004 to $ 8.8 billion in 2006.
2. Increase in gas price from $ 2.34 per mmBTU in 2004 to $ 4.2 per mmBTU in 2007 to the present demand of $ 14.2 per mmBTU.
3. Capacity created for producing 80 mmscmd after incurring such a huge cost ends up producing just 27 mmscmd after 12 years.
4. 31 oil wells should have been in production till now. Out of them, just 13 are functional.
Kejriwal and lawyer Prashant Bhushan, a leading member of IAC, alleged the allocation of KG Basin to Reliance is on similar lines as coal block allocation scam. They alleged both Congress and BJP were in ‘Ambani’s pocket’.

REAL STORY OF Late DHIRUBHAI AMBANI of Reliance Industries
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3924530/Polyester-PrinceThe-Real-Story-of-Dhirubhai-AmbaniBanned-in-India  

Another Major Scam : Govt. Favours Reliance In KG Basin

The CAG draft report that nails the connivance between Government agencies and Reliance Industries Ltd. leading to huge losses to the Government exchequer is yet another example of the power of corporates in the UPA Government to subvert rules and regulations in their favour.
The CAG has noted that the former Director-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) permitted Reliance to inflate its “development costs” on the gas extraction in the D6 block of KG basin from 2.47 billion dollars to a whopping 8.84 billion dollars. This money taken by RIL affected the revenues of the Government. Government should prosecute the former DGH without any delay.
The Government’s connivance with RIL has a direct impact on the aam aadmi because increased claims of development cost get reflected in the price of gas given to consumers and also affect the prices of fertilizer and power. Letters have been written to the Prime Minister to institute an independent enquiry into the complaint of artificial jacking up of the capital expenditure by RIL for D6 KG Basin and its hasty approval by the concerned authority to find out the actual cost before gas price is fixed.
In a repeat of the 2-G scam, the Prime Minister’s silence on the issue, has again exposed the UPA Government’s acquiescence to corporate manipulation.
Related posts:
1. The Great Billion Dollar Drug Scam 
2. Supreme Snub : Court SIT A Major Embarrassment For Govt
3. Now A Petroleum Scam?
4. The -Reliance KG Gas Scam Prabir Purkayastha, Newsclick
5. Way to Rural Self Reliance: National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM)
6. Demand For JPC On Spectrum Scam :Go Beyond Rhetoric
7. THE ADARSH SOCIETY SCAM A Shocking Exposure of Congress govt Venality – Ashok Dhawale
8. SUPREME COURT VERDICT ON KG BASIN GAS -Dipankar Mukherjee
9. AMBANIS ROW : GOVT HAS LAST WORD ON KG BASIN GAS PRICE : SC
10. POOL PRICING FOR KG BASIN GAS TO HARM ANDHRA PRADESH INTERESTS
11. PRODUCTION OF GAS IN KG BASIN
12. FINDINGS OF ICAI IN SATYAM SCAM CASE

QUESTIONS FOR MONEY – PARLIAMENTARY ACTS/LEGISLATIONS FOR ????-improper functioning of democracy in india

the vohra committee report has proved the criminalisation of politics in india. There are many number of criminals in the parliament & state legislatures. Some of those criminals are cabinet ministers as well as members of vital parliamentary committees. Thereby, they are in a position to manipulate , enact laws favouring , benefitting the criminals their cronies.

Just see how the GOI gave export incentive of Rs.1800 crore to reliance petroleum although it didn't even export a barrel. Reliance infocom & tata teleservices were CDMA mobile service providers & have paid license fee of few crores only equal to landline fees without any competitive bidding . They were supposed to provide mobile service to operate like fixed phones within a radius of 40k.m. however they were providing service like mobile service from one state to another like GSM mobile service providers. By this act of RIC & TTSL , the GSM providers who have paid thousands of license fee in competitive bidding were economically hurt , the dispute went to court. The court was on the verge of pronouncing it's verdict awarding damages worth Rs.18000 crore to GSM players & Rs. 3000 crore of license fees with penalty to GOI. The government announced a unified telecom license regime with retrospective effect. Thereby, the GOI lost thousands of crores of rupees & the share holders of GSM players lost thousands of crores. Once again the RIC was charged by PSU bsnl THAT RELIANCE IS RE-ROUTING INTERNATIONAL CALLS AS LOCAL CALLS & SWINDLING THE GOI. This time too, GOI bailed it out. during the dispute between ambani brothers the younger ambani mr. Anil ambani director of reliance himself has stated that for the favours received from the GOI , the company gifted some shares to then IT & COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER mr. Pramod mahajan.

Various indian & multinational companies are looting indian exchequer to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees , through lobbying / bribing. In india, indirect democracy is the form of governance. In this form, people's representatives are bound to raise the questions , issues concerning their constituents on their behalf , on the floor of the house. However the sad part in india even after 58 years of democracy , is the lobbying is at it's peak. The lobbying is a gentleman's white collared crook's way of forming favour seeker's group , creating a corpus to pay lumpsum bribe & influencing decision making. The people's representatives are bound to represent their people first , then their party & party think tanks. India has come to this sorry state of affairs , widespread corruption , huge black economy & rampant poverty, all due to inefficient legislations & enforcements. These think tanks & IAS lobby, consider themselves as most super brains on earth & gives out suggestions . the present state of affairs is a barometer of their brilliance. These think tanks & IAS lobby are the hand maidens of lobbyists / bribers.

Now consider the following example : Mr.raj gandhi is a member of parliament from mandya constituency in karnataka state. He is a MBA graduate & member of ruling indian progressive party. The multinational giant M/S GREY HOUND CORPORATION wants to enter into paper manufacturing business in india. It's sight falls on the public sector paper giant mandya national paper mills ( MNPM) in mandya district of karnataka. The MNC effectively lobbies with the government. The ruling party think tank & the cabinet advisory group recommends to the government to make strategic disinvestment in the PSU M/S MNPM. They bring out graph with full power point presentation stating that it is good for the company as well as the government. The lobbyists follows it up with media reports on the positive aspect of strategic disinvestment. A favourable impression is created in the minds of literate public. The cabinet committee okays it.

The " strategic dis investment issue " comes before the parliament for legislation / approval. The ruling party issues a party whip to it's members to vote in favour of dis investment. However M.P mr.raj gandhi who is an MBA in his own wisdom also favours the dis investment. However ,most importantly the constituents – people in mandya parliamentary constituency through protest marches , mass post card campaigns lakhs in numbers expresses their disagreement with the dis investment & urges their MP mr.gandhi to vote against the disinvestment legislation.

On the D-day in parliament , mr. Raj gandhi as per his party whip & his own wisdom votes in favour of strategic disinvestment legislation, much against the wishes of his people , constituents & mis represents them in parliament. the democracy has failed here. in This way democracy is being derailed since  65  years in india.

In democracy, party whip , MP or MLA's own wisdom / brilliance, think tank & IAS lobby recommendations are all secondary , the constituent's of his constituency , people's wishes aspirations are of primary importance & supreme. What people need is a honest representative, who simply delivers the people's aspirations on the floor of the house back & forth , without superimposing it with his own ideas & party ideas. For true democracy , the people's representatives must be true postmans.

Towards this end , the people must be educated about their democratic rights & responsibilities. This is an appeal to the honest few in the parliament & state legislatures to weed out their corrupt colleagues , lobbyists, to uphold the dignity of the house & to install democracy in it's true form.

THREAT TO INDIA'S SECURITY BY CORPORATE CRIMINALS
- An appeal to honourable prime minister of india & honourable chief minister of Karnataka

In india , since ages certain section of people – dalits , tribals are being oppressed in the name of caste by forward caste people. The name sake independence has not changed the lives of dalits & tribals. The upper caste people were in control of government & economic sector before independence as well as after independence too. The upper caste people are now MPs , MLAs & are running businesses . they have framed rules , laws to suit their ends. They are getting bank loans , subsidies , tax cuts , etc , by greasing the palms of those in power – their own caste men. The reservation policy is just a vote winning gimmick of forward caste politicians , it is neo divide & rule policy. Only few dalits with money & contacts have benefitted , by the reservation policy of government. Majority of them are still sufferring from utter poverty & social oppression.

Now, due to rapid industrialisation & globalisation a new economic divide has taken place – rich & poor , haves & have nots. Now, economically poor are also being oppressed along with dalits. The forward caste people in government have framed laws to suit their ends , they have provided concessional priority loans , tax cuts , subsidies , etc from the government to corporate sector . The corporate sector has demanded & got monetary benefits , infrastructure facilities from the government . however the same corporates , MNCs are violating statuotary laws & are averse to social welfare measures of the government . they are averse to provide jobs to dalits , tribals & poor , why ? these corporates are bribing the labour , tax department & other government officials . as a result the government is loosing tax revenues to the tune of thousands of crores every year , the government doesn't have money to provide social welfare measures to common people. The lives of common people are under threat.

Now, the number of common people dying due to starvation , lack of health care is more than in a war field. The threat to unity & integrity of india is more from the corporate sector than pakistan or china.
Now, the government of india & other state governments are literally under corporate control. HRW has brought to the notice of government cases of statuotary law violations by various corporate entities ,
till date no action has been taken. Why ? hereby , HRW once again offers it's conditional services to the government of india & karnataka in apprehending corporate criminals , corrupt tax , labour , pollution control board offricials. Are you ready sir ????

COVERING-UP CORPORATE FRAUDS IN INDIA
- CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY & CORPORATE GOVERNANCE NEED OF THE HOUR

In India , most of the commercial ventures cheat the government of it's rightful tax dues. As a result the governments doesn't have enough money to carryout it's social welfare duties – Providing health care , food , potable water to all. In turn common people are dying due to lack of health care , hunger , mal nutrition , etc. the murderers of these commoners are TAX EVADING CORPORATES , the politicians & officials keep mum by taking bribe.

Nowadays , even the underworld activities of mafia , terrorist outfits , political parties are being financed by the illegal corporate deals. Who says threat to India is from Pakistan only , it is most likely from our own entrepreneur. Till date the GOI has not put any corporate bigwigs behind bars for their crimes. The corporate lobby always clamours for flexible labour laws , credit policies as in U.S.A , but are mum about SOCIAL SECURITY NET , ENVIRONMENT POLICY & CORPORATE GOVERNANCE as in the same U.S.A. Why ?

Recently , it has been published that , in India out of vast sales of counterfeit MOVIE CDs & software CDs , underworld is funding narcotics trade , terrorist movements. It is high time the small investors , public became aware about the activities of their neighbouring businessmen / Entrepreneurs.

List of Reliance Scams 

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is an Indian conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The company operates in five major segments: exploration and production, refining and marketing, petrochemicals, retail and telecommunications.^[1][2]

Seminar magazine (2003) detailed Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani’s proximity to politicians, his enmity with Bombay Dyeing’s Nusli Wadia, the exposes by the Indian Express and Arun Shourie about illegal imports by the company and overseas share transactions by shell companies, and the botched attempt to acquire Larsen & Toubro.^[3]

As early as 1996, Outlook magazine addressed other controversies related to fake and switched shares; insider trading; and a nexus with the state-owned Unit Trust of India. Five main allegations concerning Reliance, and which have plunged the Indian capital markets into a period of uncertainty unsurpassed since the days of the securities scam were (1) Reliance issued fake shares (2) It switched shares sent for transfer by buyers to make illegal profits (3) It has indulged in insider trading in shares (4) It established a nexus with the Unit Trust of India to raise huge sums of money to the detriment of UTI subscribers (5) It attempted to monopolise the private telecom services market through front companies.^[4]

Insider Trading[edit]

Stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued a show-cause notice to Reliance Industries Ltd following a probe into alleged insider trading in Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) shares in November 2007. Sebi probed transactions by entities that participated in and led to some three months of speculative rally after which the RPL stock surged to an all-time intraday high of Rs295 on 1 November 2007. In a separate and independent investigation related to the same issue, the income-tax (I-T) department looked at possible tax evasion by a dozen entities that Mukesh Ambani-owned RIL acknowledged to be its “agents”.^[5]

In Jan 2011, Sebi barred Anil Ambani and four other officials of Reliance Group—until recently known as the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-Adag)—companies from investing in listed shares until December 2011. Two group firms, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (R-Infra) and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) were barred from making such investment until December 2012. According to Sebi’s investigations, R-Infra and RNRL were prima facie responsible for misrepresenting the nature of investments in yield management certificates/deposits, and the profits and losses in their annual reports for the fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009. It also found misuse of FII regulations. The then minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena, on 1 December 2009, in a written response to a query raised in the Upper House of Parliament, said that three firms of R-Adag—R-Infra, RNRL and RCom—had violated overseas debt norms. These end-use violations were observed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regarding two ECB transactions—of $360 million and $150 million—by R-Infra.^[6]

In another case, Sebi, settled a dispute with Reliance Securities Ltd (RSL) with a consent order on June 2011, under which the brokerage will spend Rs1 crore within six months on investor education and not add any new clients for 45 days starting 15 June. In the settlement, it was also added that the brokerage will also pay Rs25 lakh towards settlement charges. This order followed a Sebi investigation into RSL’s books and accounts for fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2008, which said that it had allegedly violated various clauses of Sebi stock brokers and sub-brokers regulations. The Sebi inquiry cited 20 irregularities, including the brokerage not informing clients about various charges at the time of opening accounts. RSL sought power of attorney in the name of Reliance Commodities Ltd from clients and used this to debit clients’ bank accounts, purchase and sell post office deposits and government of India bonds among other transactions. Brokerage, not fully equipped to handle its customer base at the time, used the name Reliance Money at all its offices and on employee visiting cards, instead of Reliance Securities, which was the registered trading member, leading to confusion. Brokerage was found to have received funds from other client bank accounts other than the ones available to it, thus failing to have a sound third-party check on the receipt of payments. RSL had failed to update client details despite the stock exchanges pointing this out in their inspection reports. The Sebi inquiry also said RSL collected higher securities transaction tax from its clients in 2006-2008, allotted more than one terminal in the same segment for a single user, and also collected cheques in the name of Reliance Money. Brokerage also did not maintain clear segregation between broking and other activities of group companies. Further, there were frequent disruptions in the brokerage’s trading platform, which showed connectivity problems at the applicant’s end.^[7]

2G spectrum[edit]

Reliance Telecom was charged with criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 and forgery under sections 468 and 471. Reliance Telecom was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.^[8] Resulting in to arrest of Reliance Group's corporate executives Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nayar.^[9]

NICL[edit]

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet in a Mumbai court against Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and four retired employees of National Insurance Company Limited (NICL), including a former CMD, under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act for criminal conspiracy and other charges. Acting on a reference from CVC in March, 2005, the CBI started probing the conspiracy that led to the filing of the chargesheet on December 9, 2011. The 2005 complaint had alleged irregularities in issuance of insurance policies — for coverage of default payments — by NICL to RIL. Chargesheet also mentioned criminal offences with dishonest intention and causing wrongful loss totaling Rs 147.41 crore to NICL and wrongful gain to the private telecom provider.^[10]

Two retired senior officials of National Insurance Company Limited and 11 others were awarded varying jail terms by a Delhi court in Jan 2014.^[11]

RIL Plane grounded[edit]

A business jet owned by Reliance Industries (RIL) was grounded by The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 22 March 2014 during a surprise inspection, for carrying expired safety equipment on board; its pilot was also suspended for flying without a licence.^[12]

ONGC Controversy[edit]

In May 2014, ONGC moved to Delhi High Court accusing RIL of pilferage of 18 billion cubic metres from its gas-producing block in the Krishna Godavari basin.^[13] Subsequently, the two companies agreed to form an independent expert panel to probe any pilferage.^[14]

Krishna Godavari (KG) Basin gas[edit]

The Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was supposed to relinquish 25% of the total area outside the discoveries in 2004 and 2005, as per the Production Sharing Contract (PSC). However, the entire block was declared as a discovery area and RIL was allowed to retain it. In 2011, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) criticized the Oil Ministry for this decision. The CAG also faulted RIL for limiting the competition in contracts, stating that RIL awarded a $1.1 billion contract to Aker on a single-bid basis.^[15][16]

Petition against Reliance Jio[edit]

A PIL filed in the Supreme Court by an NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation, through Prashant Bhushan, challenged the grant of pan-India licence to RJIL by the Government of India. The PIL alleged that RJIL was allowed to provide voice telephony along with its 4G data service, by paying an additional fees of just INR16580 million (US$280 million) which was arbitrary and unreasonable, and contributed to a loss of INR228420 million (US$3.8 billion) to the exchequer.^[17][18]

The CAG in its draft report alleged rigging of the auction mechanism, whereby an unknown ISP, Infotel Broadband Services Pvt Ltd, acquired the spectrum by bidding 5000 times its net worth, after which the company was sold to Reliance Industries.^[19]

State Bank of India rewards whistleblowers with dismissal, defamation suit

CHENNAI: Defamation complaints and dismissal from service - these were the gifts management of the State Bank of India showered on four of its employees who acted as whistle-blowers and exposed a series of 'currency bundle missing' cases involving several lakhs of rupees from various branches of the bank.

Halting the witch-hunt by top brass of the biggest bank in India and coming to the rescue of the employees one of whom was even dismissed from service, Madras high court said: "It is unfortunate that a public sector bank like the SBI should file a (defamation) suit not only claiming damages for loss of reputation, but also seeking for a prior restraint on the trade union in publishing hand bills, posters and putting up placards."

A division bench of Justice V Ramasubramanian and Justice K Ravichandrabaabu said, "Image of the bank cannot be confused with officers at lower level committing fraud, misconduct and embezzlement. Certainly when a trade union finds that action is not being taken, they can take the issue to the public and the grievance projected in no way amounts to defaming the bank. An employee working in a public sector bank also owes a public duty when public funds were frittered away or misappropriated." 

In May 2006, a sum of Rs 30 lakh - six bundles of Rs 500 denomination - went missing from currency notes stored in the strong room of Avinashi branch of Coimbatore module in SBI's Chennai circle. Holding that chief general manager Pradip Chaudhary cannot be spared for the loss caused to the bank, three persons - M V Thangaswamy, president, S Gunasekar, general secretary and G Arasukumar, treasurer of SBI Ambedkar Trade Union - wrote complaints to the RBI and pasted posters seeking action.

In this regard, they pointed out that cash bundles worth Rs 5 lakh had gone missing from Salem branch, Rs 6 lakh went missing from Rasipuram branch, Rs 5.5. lakh from Aminjikarai branch, Rs 5 lakh from Kulithalai branch, Rs 6 lakh from Avinasi branch, Rs 1 lakh from Avinasi branch and the latest case of Rs 30 lakh going missing from the same Avinasi branch.

The bank hit back by issuing show-cause notices, memos, defamation suits and then dismissal of one officer from service, on the ground that they pasted posters without properly verifying the truth and with a view to defame the bank and cause damage to their business and reputation.

Setting aside the dismissal and other proceedings, the judges said, "It is seen from the contents of the posters that it was only an appeal to the bank for taking action. Specific instances were pointed out to the chief general manager to take appropriate action. Instead of taking action on the grievances projected by the trade union, the bank had filed the suit."

Exposing inaction of the bank in the light of a series of cash shortages can only be in public interest and making such statements cannot be detrimental to the interest of the bank, the bench said. The bank itself expects its officers to take all possible steps to ensure and protect the interests of the bank. Publishing or exposing the cash shortages in the bank and the inaction of the top officers cannot amount to willful damage to the property of the bank. It cannot even be said to be prejudicial to the interest of the bank, they concluded.

"Merely because it has exposed some irregularities, the poster will not affect the commercial interest of the bank," they said, adding that on the other hand, only by such exposures, correctional measures could be taken and the bank could assure the general public that all is well with them.

In this regard, the bench pointed out that it is usual practice for trade unions and public sector banks to publish the list of defaulters and the non-performing assets of the bank in order to bring it to the notice of the general public and the government, so that corrective actions can be taken.

SOILED NOTE FRAUD CASE @ RBI BANGALORE
-       Trauma of an old man

Complete case details also available at http://members.lycos.co.uk/ganapathihariram/

As per allegations of RBI management Bangalore in 1977-79 , criminal
nexus of RBI employees stole Rs. 220000 from RBI Bangalore. All the
banks , government treasuries in Karnataka , submit defaced / soiled
currency notes to RBI Bangalore in exchange for good notes. RBI after
collecting such defaced currency notes , sorts out fairly good notes
which can be reissued & burns off the remaining totally defaced
currency notes. All these process is done in a systematic manner.

As per allegations of the management , the crime took place in the
period of 1977-79 at RBI Bangalore. A nexus of employees, took away
the currency bundles meant for destruction & substituted it in the
place of bundles of reissuables.

Charge sheet issued by RBI Bangalore office to mr.G.Hariram
Staff no.3698/156/84-85 dt 1 april 1985
Amended charge sheet staff no 3798/156-84/85 dt 8 april 1985

CBI has charge sheeted 17 employees in connection with this case ,
case olde no. cc34/1989       new no.  sc 436/1991            . the
honourable 21 city additional city civil & sessions court Bangalore in
it's order dated 24.01.1992
   discharged        03  charge sheeted employees , as the prosecution
failed to prove the charges against them. They came out clean , as
they were innocents saddled with the crime done by others. One of the
charge sheeted employee who turned approver for the prosecution, has
given detailed account of the crime. Nowhere he has mentioned the
involvement of accussed no.15 mr.G.Hariram in the crime.

Even after coming out clean, mr.G.Hariram was not reinstated into
service by RBI. They gave the ruse of domestic enquiry & showed
contempt to the court order. On appeal, the honourable high court of
Karnataka ordered RBI to review it's order with respect to
mr.G.Hariram , still RBI failed to reinstate mr.G.Hariram into service
, once gain showing contempt to the court of law.

In India as per law , the decisions of court of law are binding on all
, orders of court over rides the organisation's internal rules ,
service rules , etc. inspite of lack of evidences, in a whimsical
manner the higher authorities of RBI , fixed some innocents as the
scape goats heaped all charges against them ( against whom they had
personal grudge , dislikes ). RBI  repeatedly showed contempt to the
court orders , dismissed the scape goat - ailing old man mr.G.Hariram
from service. RBI snatched away his PF money towards the alleged loss
to the bank , didn't pay his gratuity amount , salary arrears and
finally he was even deprived of the pension. As a result , the old man
has even lost his social prestige, dignity , his family suffered a lot
& he is a mental wreck today.

Why RBI authoroties are hell bent upon to send away the innocents /
scape goats away from service ? why CBI didn't conduct polygraph tests
of all the accussed , specifically higher officers of RBI , managers
of RBI office Bangalore ? probably the scape goats were aware of the
crimes master minded by higher ups & didn't co-operate with the higher
ups in their crimes. So, the criminals were afraid that the scape
goats will blurt out truth to the world , fixed non co-operating
innocents themselves as criminals.

Who will give justice to innocents like old man mr.G.Hariram & who
will bell the corrupt , criminals , fat cats of RBI ?                           

 RBI Governor Hiding Information & Hiding Crimes

APPEAL UNDER SEC 19 (3) OF RTI ACT 2005 OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA & GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA

FULL NAME OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.

ADDRESS OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.,

EDITOR , SOS E-VOICE JUSTICE  & SOS E-CLARION OF DALIT ,

# LIG-2 / 761, OPP WATER WORKS OFFICE,

HUDCO FIRST STAGE, LAXMIKANTANAGAR,

HEBBAL, MYSORE , KARNATAKA  PIN – 570017.

"Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts.  They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the  forewarning of  Late Winston Churchill  has been proved right by  some of our  criminal , corrupt people’s representatives , police , RBI  Officials , public servants &  Judges.  Some of the below  mentioned public servants   fall among the category of churchill’s men –  Rogues  , Rascals & Freebooters. RBI  Officials are denying me information under one pretext or the other and covering-up SCAM worth crores of rupees.

We salute honest few in public service , our whole hearted respects to them.  HEREBY , I DO HUMBLY REQUEST YOU TO GIVE ME WRITTEN STATEMENTS / ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS – WHICH IN ITSELF ( ie answers ) ARE THE INFORMATION SOUGHT BY ME. HERE WITH I AM SEEKING NOT THE OPINIONS ABOUT SOME HYPOTHETICAL ISSUES , BUT YOUR OFFICIAL STAND , LEGAL STAND ON ISSUES WHICH ARE OF FREQUENT OCCURRENCE WHICH ARE VIOLATING PEOPLE’S FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS & HUMAN RIGHTS. WE DO HAVE HIGHEST RESPECTS FOR JUDICIARY & ALL PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS , THIS IS AN APPEAL FOR TRUTH , INFORMATION SO THAT TO APPREHEND CORRUPT FEW IN PUBLIC SERVICE, WHO ARE AIDING & ABETTING TERRORISM , UNDERWORLD & CRIMINALS.

HEREBY , I DO HUMBLY REQUEST YOU TO GIVE ME WRITTEN STATEMENTS / ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS - WHICH IN ITSELF ( ie answers ) ARE THE INFORMATION SOUGHT BY ME. WITH RESPECT TO CASE NO  old CC34 / 1989 & NEW NO SC436/1991   AT 21

ST ADDITIONAL CITY CIVIL & SESSIONS COURT BANGALORE

CHARGE SHEETED OFFICER MR.G.HARIRAM RBI BANGALORE

CHARGE SHEET NO staff no.3698/156/84-85 dt 01.01.1985

Amended charge sheet  staff no.3798/156-84/85 dt 08.04.1985

1. Why didn't you notice the alleged crimes of 1977 , 78 & 79 till the

mid of  1979 ?

2. This crime came to light only due to anonymous phone calls of good

Samaritans to authorities , but not due to your inspection . is your

inspection division working properly ?

3. why there is no security check up of officers during entry & exit

out of premises ?

4. why there is no individual weighment , individual statement of

value of bags of reissuable notes & bags of note meant for destruction

, after sorting is done, why they are not tallied with total weight ,

value of notes issued for sorting ?

5. Immediately after noticing the crime, why did not you transfer all

the employees of those sections ?

6. why did not you take steps to preserve3 & protect respective

documents relating to such high profile crime ?

7. why didn't you immediately issue charge sheet to all the accussed &

waited till 1983 ?

8. Why RBI has left out , so many officers ( who worked in the same

sections for more period than accused officers ) from domestic

enquiry ?

9. why CBI also failed to put those people in the charge sheet before

the court ?

10. is it because they were in favorable terms with the vested

interests ?

11. did the CBI dance to the tune of vested interests in RBI while

preparing charge sheet & during investigation , instead  of

independent investigation ?

12. those left out probables from the charge sheet might have caused

the destruction of evidences / records. During the course of domestic

enquiry / court proceedings , it has been recorded that some records

have been destroyed. Are not CBI & RBI responsible for destruction of

evidences , aiding true criminals get away ?

13. in normal times , what is the period specified in RBI regulations

for preserving old documents / records ?

14. after noticing such a high profile crime the RBI must have taken

utmost care to preserve such old records for indefinite time , for

producing before courts of law as & when demanded. But it  didn't ,

why ?

15. does not this point to connivance of higher authorities of RBI ,

with the criminals ?

16. RBI authorities have conducted domestic mass enquiries , instead

of individual enquiries , is it not detrimental to the rights of

defense ?

17. RBI authorities have stated  that court proceedings & domestic

enquiry are independent of each other & are not binding on one

another. However  RBI authorities straight away took on record of

domestic enquiry the court statements , evidences , but didn't honour

the order of same court of law ? why this double standard by RBI ?

18. The alleged crime  was committed in 1977-79, but charge sheet was

framed in mid 1985 , why this long delay ?

19. didn't this facilitate the masterminds of crime to destroy ,

manipulate evidences ?

20. as stated before court , indeed some records , 22nd currency note

packet were missing , who is responsible for it ?

21. has the CBI conducted enquiry , polygraph test of RBI higher

officers - S.N.RAZDAN , W.S.SARAF , J.P.AWASTHI , J.MITRA & others ,

if not why ?

22. is it not due to inefficiency , negligence of duty by such high

ranking managers , that such a crime occurred in RBI Bangalore ?

23. what disciplinary action RBI has taken against the inefficient ,

negligent higher officials ?

24. whatever internal rules an organization makes must be within the

line of law. If such internal laws of the organization are violative

of law , fundamental rights of employees , such internal rules become

illegal. Are not the way of RBI disciplinary proceedings illegal ?

25. as per RBI pension regulations 1990 , RBI has the right to deduct

any loss caused to the bank , from the pension of RBI employee if the

misconduct of employee is proved in judicial proceedings . even though

mr.G.Hariram came out clean from the court , why  RBI has denied his

pension ?

26. judicial courts of law are appellate authorities over & above ,

domestic enquiry committees & judicial orders supersedes the domestic

enquiry proceedings. Still RBI showed contempt of court & didn't

reinstate mr..G.Hariram into service , why ?

27. even if an employee's misconduct causing loss to the bank is

proved , before denying him pension (towards making up loss to the

bank) , previous sanction of the central board of RBI must be taken.

But in mr.G.Hariram's case , pension was denied in full without taking

previous sanction of the central board of RBI , is it not illegal ?

28. RBI alleged that mr..G.Hariram caused loss to the tune of Rs.14000

to the bank & recovered it from his provident fund dues. There was

nothing left over to recover , still RBI  completely denied pension to

mr.G.Hariram , why ?

29. ideally, domestic enquiry findings / disciplinary actions should

be completed first , then the employee can appeal to appropriate court

of law. In mr.G.Hariram's case , CBI & RBI failed to prove the charges

in court of law , as a result court discharged him from the charges.

To cover-up it's failures RBI management dragged domestic enquiry much

beyond court orders date & gave findings indicting mr..G.Hariram. does

the enquiry officer of domestic enquiry think that he is over & above

the court of law ? is it not illegal & contempt of court ?

30. ideally , RBI authorities should have appealed to higher court

against lower court order discharging mr.G.Hariram from charges. But

it was not done , why ?

31. did the RBI pay interim relief to mr.G.Hariram , during suspension

period ?

32. the undue delay in filing charge sheet , consequent destruction of

key evidences , dishonour / contempt of court orders , undue haste in

giving findings , dismissal , denial of of pension without central

board's sanction , all point towards criminals within RBI higher

management. What disciplinary action has been taken against

J.P.AWASTHI, S.N.RAZDAN,J.MITRA, W.SARAF & others ? if not why ?

33. why charge sheet was amended? Is it legal ?

34. did the charge sheet was amended to falsely implicate

mr..G.Hariram , by including cancelled note vault in the charge

sheet ?

35. does not this itself show that it is not statement of actual

happenings / facts , but a cunning ploy to mislead investigation

towards fixed innocents from actual criminals ?

36. is it true that that only 5% of sample inspection is done out of

bundled verified defective note packets ?

37. is not the conduct of joint / mass enquiries of all charge sheeted

officers illegal ?

38. how come such an important evidence 22nd note packet went

missing ?

39. is it because it may point towards real criminals ?

40. as per the statement of management witness / inspection head /

expert mr.vijendra rao , the notes of earlier dates have been removed

from packets made into new bundles , right ?

41. as per his statement , entire certificates , seals of some asst

treasurers are there , who didn't work at all on that day is not it ?

42. does not it show that some body else was misusing the seals ,

putting some innocents seals over the notes ?

43. does it not show that , crime has taken place at verification

section ?

44. does it not show involvement of some asst treasurers ?

45. why asst treasurers have not been charge sheeted ?

46. why inspection of RBI Bangalore office was not done between 1975 &

1979 ?

47. is it not true that you failed to produce all records showing

internal inspection / audits , during domestic enquiry & court

proceedings ?

48. your expert mr.vijendra rao has stated that some seal marks are

smudged , he has stated some seal marks appears to be so & so. He has

clearly nowhere stated that this seal mark is exactly this , so he

himself is not 100% sure ?

49. your expert nowhere said that 100% sure this seal mark is this ,

on that day this seal was issued to mr.G.Hariram , isn't it ?

50. your expert says during 1975 , he didn't notice3 any fraud.

However approver says fraud was there before mid 1977 also. Why no

action has been taken ?

51. why you didn't produce all records of all persons , who have

specifically worked in alleged sections , the registers of those

departments with daily activity report containing seal nos , packet

nos , bag nos , etc ?

52. are not their chances of some criminals putting the seal marks of

innocent officers over the notes , bundles , bags , etc ?

53. your expert is not 100% sure of seal mark , your records are not

there to prove the presence of charge sheeted officers in the alleged

sections , neither your expert nor your records are 100% sure on what

date , at what stage , by whom crime was committed , isn't it ?

54. is not the charge sheet amounting to higher ups picking up

officers they dislike & falsely implicating them ?

55. is it not cunning ploy of higher ups to divert attention from

original criminals ?

56. why no action was taken against currency officer of 1977-79

mr.J.Mitra ? why his pension , super annuation benefits were not

withheld ?

57. what is your justification , supporting evidence , records for

picking up only three officers including mr.G.Hariram for legal

prosecution and leaving the majority of probables ?

58. why you have dropped charges against five asst treasurers ? why

you didn't even conduct domestic enquiry against them , let alone

legal prosecution ?

59. Is it RBI's & CBI's way of fair play & justice ?

60. as inly 5% sampling of verified note bundles are done , there are

more possibilities of rebundled packets getting unnoticed in relaxed

95% lot , isn't it ?

61. you have left out so many officers who worked in those sections,

some of whom even became management witnesses , instead of being

charge sheeted by the management, is it fair play & legal ?

62. who are the bank employees , from whom you have recovered the alleged bank loss of Rs.220000 ?

63. were all of them charge sheeted , enquired , legally prosecuted ,

dismissed & their pension , gratuity withheld ?

64. you don't have any internal statuotary records to prove that

mr.G.Hariram worked in those departments , except a currency officer's

office note dated just on the eve of charge sheet years after the

alleged crime ? does it not prove that this note has been concocted

just to fix mr.G.Hariram ?

65. where as you have records of other officials attendance in those

departments , but not charge sheeted them why ?

66. three officers of staff grade A daily work in three sections out of 40 officers , why you have picked up only mr.G.Hariram , out of 1095 working days , he has worked for only 223 days in those

sections , still those officers who worked for more days in those

sections are not charge sheeted why ? the approver , the management

expert witness , shift registers , V2 registers , Destruction

certificates , Form CD 55 , etc , nobody , no records were able to say

on what date , at what stage , by whom crime took place , also they

were unable to say on what date at what stage crime was committed by

mr.G.Hariram ? is it not futile imagination , cunning ploy of RBI

higher authorities to fix innocent Mr.G.Hariram ?

67. the management expert witnesses said , the most probable place of

crime is punching / Cancelled Note Vault , incinerator , where asst

treasurers were joint custodians . they were not enquired & let off

why ?

68.        the charge sheet alleges extraction / substitution of

defaced note packets. Where as the management expert witness say

substitution of defaced notes only ? is not there difference between

loss of one number of note & 100 number of notes ?

69.         as per the normal course of duty , staff officers does not

count notes in each bundles , but they just count the number of

bundles only. Is not there chances of inserted note bundles or bundles

containing less number of notes going unnoticed ? is it not the

failure of statuotary system of work practices ?

70.         does not all these prove higher authorities of RBI & CBI

were hell bent to fix mr.G.Hariram & to shield the original

criminals ?

Questions with respect to other cases :

71.         how do you monitor the work of bank officials nominated as

directors of companies which have availed bank loans ?

72.         how do you monitor the work of companies , in which banks

have invested ?

73.         how do you monitor the rapid wealth growth of certain bank

officials , who work in shares investment / equity funds section ,

etc ?

74.         inspite of project reports by bank officials , over

assessment of collateral securites / value of debtor companies by bank

officials , the loans become NPAs  & full value  cann't be realized in

the market by selling off the assets of debtor companies also. In such

cases , what action is taken against erring bank officials who collude

with criminal industrialists for availing higher amount of loan than

permissible ?

75.         give bankwise  specific figures of NPAs.

76.         give names of industrial groups / promoters whose

companies have become NPAs , so that public can be aware of them  ,

before investing in new companies promoted by them.

77.         is not collection of loan from debtors of bank through

rowdies / recovery agents , illegal ?

78.         why not criminal complaints filed against bank mangers for

aiding , abetting rowdism , murdering people ?

79.         if your method of employing rowdies to collect loans of Rs.

10000 from commoners is right , what would you do to a promoter of a

debtor company to recover loans of crores of rupees , supari killing ?

but debtors of crores of rupees is let off coolly by banks , why ?

80.         what is the exact amount of loss caused to the exchequer

by karim lala telgi who printed fake stamp papers ?

81.         what action has been taken against those involved ?

82.         have you taken action against all those mentioned by telgi

during narco analysis test , if not why ? is it because they are

powerful & bigwigs ?

83.         how you are controlling the illegal finance activities ,

money lending by individuals , pawn brokers & chit fund companies ?

84.         how you are monitoring the receipt of public donations ,

foreign donations by many NGOs ?

85.         how many erring NGOs , chit fund companies , pawn

brokers , individuals you have booked for illegal finance activities ?

Questions relating to RBI CURRENCY NOTE PRESS MYSORE

86.  who were responsible for selling the good printing machine at

security press nasik to scamster karim lala telgi as scrap ?

87.  who recruited the candidates below merit rankings in R.B.I for

what criminal roles ?

88. how many irregularities have taken place in R.B.I till date ?

89. who is responsible for installing, operating & supervising the

security set-up in R.B.I ?

90.  how the raw materials ie number of paper sheets, ink, etc are

accounted for in inward stores & while issuing for printing ?

91.  how wastages, scrap of ink , papers , etc in the printing process

are accounted for?

92.  How the finished goods ie currency notes are accounted for ?

93.  Who keeps physical figures & possession of goods, inventory of

all the above?

94.  How the scrap paper is disposed off ?

95. From security angle who keeps track from start till dispatch ?

96.        Give me the merit ranking list of all candidates for the

post of stores assistant in BRBNMPL in the year 1995-96 ?

97.        give me the merit ranking list of all candidates for the

post of process assistant at BRBNMPL in the year 1996 ?

98.        give me the merit ranking list of all candidates for the

post of process assistants & maintenance assistants at BRBNMPL in the

year 1996-1998 ?

99.        is not RBI & BRBNMPL authorities created by statuotary

laws , fully funded by public money ie from government exchequer ?

100.   still why BRBNMPL & RBI refused to answer my previous

information request as per RTI Act ? are you afraid that skeletons

will come out of cubboard ?

101.   what action initiated against the SBI  branch Bangalore  & SBI

Overseas branch for loss of cheque / draft amounting to crores of

rupees ? if not why ?

102.   give me specific figures bank wise with respect to loss caused

to the bank by loss of cheques or demand drafts , etc ?

103. how RBI is containing crimes of loss of cheques / DDs  causing huge losses to the banks to the tune of crores of rupees ?

104. what action taken against the RBI officials who are covering up crimes inspite of my repeated appeals & RTI requests ?

YEAR TO WHICH ABOVE PERTAINS : MAJORITY OF DOCUMENTS PERTAINS TO YEAR  1995 - 2015 .

 PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER  WHO FAILED  TO GIVE INFORMATION :

CPIO ,  C/o PCGM and Secretary , Secretary’s Department , Reserve Bank of India , 16 th floor, Central Office Building , Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg , Mumbai – 400 001

FEES PAID : IPO  16G  733466  for rupees TWENTY only

DATE :  28.03.2015 ……………..………………………NAGARAJA.M.R.

PLACE : MYSORE , INDIA….. ……………………….( APPLICANT)

FINANCE SCAMS IN INDIA & 5-STAR LEADERS WITH BEGGING BOWL

In " mysooru mithra" a kannada daily dated 15/06/2005, the editor has
written about a copy of the complaint made by Transparency
International India-Bangalore to central vigilance commission of
india.

In indian banks , there is a strange practice that whenever a cheque
is put before the clearing house by a bank, the clearing house sends
that cheque to the service branch of bank paying. The service branch
then sends that cheque to the appropriate bank branch
for deduction of cash from the cheque account. In this travel , if the
cheque is lost or misplaced midway, the service branch pays out of
it's suspense account to the cash collecting bank. Logically,
afterwards the service branch must initiate a thorough inquiry, get
authentication from both persons one who gave cheque & other who
collected cheque. Finally, the money must be transferred from the
account of cheque giver to the suspense account.

However , upto 1997 two branches of state bank of india in bangalore &
overseas branch sufferred from frequent loss of cheques totally
amounting to RUPEES THREE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED CRORE. In all cases of
cheque loss the bank has paid out of suspense account, totally
amounting to Rs.3200 crore. However the bank has not
initiated any enquiry to recover that amount from the cheque givers.

In the 1997 internal audit report of the bank itself , this has been
clearly pointed out. Till date, even the central vigilance commission
has not initiated any action about it. A member of central vigilance
commission happens to be ex-chairman of state bank of india.

It is just an instance of two branches of SBI, what about hundreds of
branches of SBI, what about thousands of branches of other public
sector,private sector & co-operative banks. It is fraud,fraud,fraud
all the way. Few months back to cover-up the crimes
of global trust bank ( GTB) , it was taken over by oriental bank of
commerce ( OBC).
While sanctioning a loan of just Rs.10000 to a common man , he has to
comply with lengthy legalities. If he defaults, bankers breath down
his neck, bankers send rowdies in the form of recovery agents to
humiliate the common man & his properties are
auctioned-off, finally all dues to the last penny are recovered. In
most of the cases bankers even force the defaulters to commit suicide.
However influential persons easily gets loans amounting to hundreds of
crores of rupees, coolly defaults, siphons-off the funds & shuts his
shop. No recovery at all , just it becomes a non- performing asset
(NPA) in the bank ledger. The total NPAs of all public sector banks is
more than Rs.80000 crore. This burden is spead over the crores of
hapless indians.

The government takes pride in murdering forest brigand veerappan. The
ill-gotten wealth of veerappan is not even pea nuts before this huge
amount. Remember past finance scams – MS SHOES, HAWALA, HARSHAD MEHTA
SHARE SCAM, KETAN PAREKH SHARE SCAM, UTI, etc. totally in all these
scams billions of dollars of public money have gone to the coffers of
criminals. These scamsters put veerappan to shame in their turnover.
However the government is not even exhibiting a fraction of it's
ELIMINATE VEERAPPAN DRIVE against these scamsters, why?

In india, both central & state government tax/ revenue officials are
neck deep in corruption. By, taking bribe they make lower assessment
of income, gains, etc & spare businessmen from the tax payment. The
government in return for favours received from
lobbies, gives tax exemptions to them at it's sweet will. All these
scams & it's cover-ups are insider jobs. The government is not
interested to collect, recover it's own monies
amounting to billions of billions of dollars every year. However our 5-
star leaders living at the expense of tax-payers, go-on foreign jaunts
with a begging bowl for a few lakhs of dollars. What a shame?

More than 50 billion indians are barely surviving on a single meal per
day & hundreds are dying due to starvation, billions don't even have
basic necessities of life. If the government even just collects a
fraction of it's dues from scamsters, defaulting industrialists –
people won't die of hunger in india. Has this enlightened our thick
skinned netas ?

 Editorial : Crimes  @  Reserve  Bank  of  India
-       An appeal to SUPREME COURT OF INDIA & central information commission

Ref  no. RTI APPEAL via web DPG/B/2008/80341

RBI is a public authority , set up by an act of parliament. Numerous
irregularities , illegalities , crimes have taken place at RBI , still
it is fully covered up by those in influential positions.

Just refer  “Oil for Food Money in Iraq scam ”  and “ Vostro Account Scam of 1990s”. Influential people are involved , everything happened under the noose of RBI , With the connivance of RBI officials ?

We requested the CPIO of RBI HQ for information as per RTI Act  ( our
letter dt 20th September 2008 ) about various issues concerning the
activities of that institution in whole. However the CPIO OF RBI HQ
through his letter no.DAPM.CO.RIA.4001/07.50.01/2008-09 dt October
03rd 2008 declined to give information citing certain ruses. ( RBI Ref
no. RIA 798/2008-09 )

He has stated that some information pertains to security press ,
nashik & note press at mysore. True , both those institutions are
fully owned subsidiaries of RBI , hence RBI is in a position to
answer. Still , RBI can transfer a copy of our RTI Application  to
those authorities as per provisions of Sec 6(3) of RTI ACT 2005. CPIO
didn’t do that.

One more ruse of CPIO of RBI is that , I am seeking his views /
opinions on issues concerning RBI activities. He is wrong , I am
seeking to know the official / legal stand of   RBI regarding it’s
activities for example , appointment of rowdies as loan recovery
agents by banks , etc. CPIO has failed to state the official stand
regarding various activities of RBI.

One more ruse given by CPIO of RBI is that I have raised many issues ,
to be specific 103 questions on various topics concerning RBI , giving
information on all those diverts the resources of authorities , hence
information request is denied. TRUE , information sought is many , so
do the crimes @ RBI which are also many. When compared to magnitude of
crimes @ RBI which is 3-4 times the entire budget outlays of Indian
government  to the tune of crores of rupees  , the resources spent to
ascertain information as per our RTI Application is just few hundreds
of rupees. When compared to the money spent by RBI officials by way of
TA / DA during their travel , etc, our information request resource
needs are peanuts.

To sum up , CPIO of RBI is hell bent to protect the criminals @ RBI
lest the truth comes into open. Hereby , we request the honourable
Supreme Court of India & central information commission  to order the RBI to give us truthful
information in whole , so that justice is given to those victimized &
fat criminals are sent to gallows. JAI HIND. VANDE MATARAM.

Read the article "Crimes @ RESERVE BANK OF INDIA"  @ http://theftinrbi.blogspot.com/
, http://theftinrbi.rediffblogs.com/  , http://theftinrbi.wordpress.com/

Your’s sincerely,
Nagaraj.M.R.

The hawala trail

PRAVEEN SWAMI

BRITISH officials are investigating the activities of one of the most prominent overseas backers of secessionist groups in Jammu and Kashmir. Last month, the United Kingdom's Charities Commission and the Metropolitan Police began looking into allegations that Ayub Thokar, the head of the World Kashmir Freedom Movement, had funnelled funds raised for charity to the terrorist groups.

Investigations into Thokar's role in funding terror began after Indian officials handed over evidence in the case to their British counterparts in June. The two Indian officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs and a senior Jammu and Kashmir Police officer made available details of funds funnelled from Thokar's charity, Mercy International, through Standard Chartered Grindlays Bank (since then renamed Standard Chartered Bank) and the Development Credit Bank. The investigators also provided transcripts of telephone intercepts and cases filed against the recipients of the funds in India.

On May 25, a long-running Intelligence Bureau operation led to the arrest of Srinagar-based journalist Imtiaz Bazaz. Officials claim that he was a key conduit for transferring funds to Hizbul Mujahideen field commanders in Jammu and Kashmir. On April 22 Bazaz had received a foreign currency remittance of Rs.4,84,875 into his account with Standard Chartered in New Delhi, and on May 15 a second remittance of Rs.14,98,000 into the Development Credit Bank. Although intelligence officials monitored the first transaction, they did not intervene, in the interest of building up evidence. The second transaction was frozen.

The funds trail led straight to Thokar. It transpired that in early 2001, Hizbul Mujahideen chief Mohammad Yusuf Shah had sent Rs.48 lakh to Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Salahuddin through Thokar. Subsequently, after the arrest of Jamait-ul-Mujahideen finance commander Qasim Faktu, Thokar began to finance his organisation through the terrorist's wife, Asiya Indrabi. Most of the funds were routed through Bazaz, who arranged for the transfer of funds received in New Delhi to accounts held with the Jammu & Kashmir Bank in Srinagar. Cash was then paid to the final recipients.

Meanwhile, Income Tax Department investigations against All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani have started to bear fruit (Frontline, July 5, 2002). The secessionist leader claimed an annual agricultural income of Rs.10,000 in his tax returns, and also received the official pension of Rs.85,200 due to two-term MLAs - ironically enough for a man now at the cutting edge of the secessionist anti-election campaign! His expensive house in Hyderpora, however, had several cars parked there and the household was run by a personal staff of 14 people. The monthly kitchen expenses amounted to Rs.25,000. Income Tax Department searches of the Geelani home also yielded Rs.10.25 lakhs and $10,000 in cash. Income-tax officials have now decided to impose penalties of Rs.30 lakhs on Geelani, based on his estimated income over the last six years, the maximum period allowed by law. His businessman son-in-law Altaf Ahmad Shah, who allegedly used his legitimate operations to launder funds, has been slapped with a Rs.40 lakhs penalty. Failure to pay could lead to the auctioning of Geelani's assets, including the Hyderpora home.

Separate income-tax penalties of Rs.2 crores have been imposed on businessman Abdul Rashid Saraf, who was allegedly involved in handling hawala funds sent to APHC chairman Abdul Gani Bhat. Saraf, income-tax authorities found, had failed to disclose income of Rs.3.37 crores over the last six years.

The vigour that the Income Tax Department has shown in this matter marks a welcome departure from the past. After it was driven out of Srinagar in the later 1980s by mobs that attacked income tax inspectors, the organisation had granted de-facto independence to the State. This time, two planeloads of officials flew into the Avantipora Air Force base and they were escorted to the raids by police officers. Their successes seem to have convinced the Income Tax Department that it is after all possible to play a useful role in Jammu and Kashmir.

In the U.K., both Mercy International and Thokar will now have to answer some hard questions. For one, there is no explanation why the organisation did not send supposed philanthropic donations to the several-dozen charities in Jammu and Kashmir which have clearances under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. Thokar will also have to explain how he paid for the purchase of his London home, and his regular overseas travels, given the fact that he has no ostensible means of income. India has, however, chosen not to seek Thokar's extradition, since the fact that his wife is a U.K. national makes this outcome unlikely.

For India, British action in this case will be a key test of its loudly-advertised anti-terrorist stance. In March, sources told Frontline, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani had handed over to British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw a dossier on the activities of secessionist groups in the U.K. Titled 'Misuse of British Soil by Kashmir Expatriates Based in the U.K. for Funding Terrorism in J&K', the document outlined many of the charges which investigations have now added substance to. Sources say the team that visited the U.K. pointed to Straw's promises to crack down on terrorism-related money laundering, and were told that criminal prosecutions would take place in the U.K. Earlier, the U.K. successfully prosecuted two Khalistan-linked British nationals involved in backing the Babbar Khalsa International.

If funds transfers to terrorist groups are effectively cut off, it will do not a little to cripple such organisations. The reasons are simple. While it is easy to send cadres across the Line of Control, actually sustaining their activities in Jammu and Kashmir needs an elaborate financial structure. Money is needed to pay for everything from food and shelter to informants, political support and the legal defence of arrested sympathisers. Since it is impossible to lug sacks full of cash across the LoC, illegal funds transfers come into play. For many businessmen in the Kashmir Valley, holding such cash for short terms has been a profitable, risk-free enterprise. Now the penalties imposed should persuade conduits for blood-money transfers that crime does not, in fact, pay.

Al-Qaeda routing money to India via Europe

New Delhi, Mar 6: European countries are being used as hot destinations by terror group al-Qaeda to route money to India, according to a report by Peruvian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

The report said the FIU had found at least one case of such suspicious transaction by al-Qaeda every month and shared them with the US investigators.

"The FIU also reports tracking cases similar to that of an OFAC-designated (US Office of Foreign Assets Control) of al-Qaeda element moving money from Europe through Lima and on to India," the report leaked by Wikileaks, a non-profit media organisation dedicated to bringing important information to the public, quoting FIU head Enrique Saldivar disclosed.

"Asked if this al-Qaeda case was the first of its kind or they had seen similar cases before, Saldivar told NASOff that they see about one case a month," the cable said.

The FIU receives and analyses STRs, may request additional information relevant to cases or operations related to money laundering or terrorist financing, provides Financial Intelligence Reports (FIR) to the Public Prosecutor's Office, participates and/or requests joint investigations, and coordinates with foreign FIUs and entities.

"Of the 7,710 suspicious activity reports examined by FIU analysts in 2009, 781 resulted in financial intelligence reports sent to the Public Ministry for further processing and investigation.

"Based on these 781 intelligence reports, the FIU concludes more than 3 billion USD moved illegally through Peru''s financial sector in 2009," it said.

"83 per cent of this amount, according to the FIU, is related to drug trafficking. The other 17 per cent is reportedly related to fiscal fraud, corruption and illegal gun dealing. Currently, 308 of these intelligence reports are at various stages of investigation and prosecution in the legal system as compared to four cases in 2008," the cables read.

According to Saldivar, anti-money laundering efforts in Peru are hindered by several factors.

StanChart prospectus quiet about cases

Mumbai: Standard Chartered Plc, (StanChart) which is set to hit the market with the first ever issue of Indian depository receipts (IDRs) on 25 May, has not disclosed many pending cases against it for alleged violation of foreign exchange remittance norms in the draft red herring prospectus submitted to the capital markets regulator.

The alleged violations—17 transactions of drafts, one telex transfer and two cash transactions—go back to 1991-92, when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) found a series of forex violations made through the bank’s Mumbai branches to the UK.

ED is a government agency that looks into foreign exchange transactions.

The violations were discovered after ED investigated a number of banks, including Standard Chartered, in the aftermath of the Harshad Mehta scam that rocked the stock markets in 1991-92.

The ED complaint was filed in the court of chief metropolitan magistrate in Mumbai by enforcement officer S. Parvez in May 2002.

These complaints, which are still pending, charge the bank and its then chairman Rodney Galpin of “total violation” of the exchange control manual and provisions of then prevailing foreign exchange regulation norms.

Mint has reviewed copies of some of these case files.

The Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements (ICDR) norms, laid down by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), require any firm floating a public issue to disclose all pending proceedings initiated for economic offences against the issuer or its directors, as well as the present status of such cases.

StanChart said that it has no “material litigation” to disclose. The bank’s spokesman Arijit De said the lender has applied the relevant materiality standard in arriving at the disclosures.

In response to an email questionnaire, he said the bank would comply with the applicable laws, regulations and international practice with regard to material information disclosure and uniformity of disclosures.

“Accordingly, in relation to disclosure on litigation, as provided under the provisions of the Sebi (ICDR) regulations, 2009, as amended, Standard Chartered Plc, as an issuer of IDRs, is required to disclose ‘material litigation’. In considering whether disclosures are necessary in relation to litigation, Standard Chartered Plc has applied the relevant materiality standard. On this basis, no litigation is required to be disclosed,” the email said.

Under Sebi rules, the so-called materiality of a case must be judged on three broad parameters: qualitative nature, litigation or defaults that may not be material at present but might have a material impact later, and litigations that may not be material individually, but may be found material collectively.

A questionnaire to Sebi on whether it has granted any special exemption to StanChart for the IDR remained unanswered.

A senior lawyer at a national law firm said: “All pending litigations that have a bearing on the issue should be disclosed in the prospectus as per ICDR regulations. Moreover, the issue of materiality varies from case to case and is subjective. If I were an underwriter, I would have disclosed the status of the cases and justified if the cases have any material impact on the company’s businesses or not, in the prospectus.” The lawyer did not want to be identified.

Market analysts say there is no definitive yardstick for deciding the importance of a case.

“Materiality is subjective and judgemental,” said Prithvi Haldea, chairman and managing director of Prime Database, a primary market tracker. “The merchant banker, issuer and lawyer can collectively take a call on whether a matter is material or not.”

However, if these matters are decided in court and proven to be material, the issuers, bankers and lawyers can be taken to court for substantial damages, he added.

The amount involved in the 17 transactions listed by ED and facilitated by the bank between February 1991 and September 1992 is Rs4 crore. The bank also allegedly facilitated a telegraphic transfer of Rs1.5 crore. ANZ Grindlays Bank, which was acquired by StanChart in 2000, allegedly helped the same entities transfer around Rs55 crore. Separate cases are pending against both banks in the matter.

According to the case files, Irish rugby player Keith Fairbrother was the key beneficiary of the transfers. He owned a company, Indo International, earlier known as Eastern Suburbs, based in the UK, but with bank accounts in both names in India as well as the UK.

Fairbrother is said to have facilitated a few import-export deals between some Indian firms and their counterparts in the erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Since India and USSR had bilateral trade pacts, any payment to entities there needed to be routed through the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with appropriate approvals and sanctions. Fairbrother, the files claim, broke these rules using various foreign banks, including StanChart.

Through his associate Kuldip Singh Sood in India, Fairbrother would collect Indian rupee drafts drawn by an Indian bank on its domestic branch. Allegedly with the connivance of StanChart, he would get them cleared without making any declarations or taking any approvals and credit the amount to a vostro account of StanChart London and Manchester. These banks would, in turn, transfer the amount to a beneficiary of the same name in the UK.

A vostro account is the local currency account held by a local bank for a foreign one. Such accounts are used for inter-bank transfers, and money transfers to non-residents need RBI’s nod. ED has charged that the bank and its then CEO violated these rules.

A senior broker, on condition of anonymity, said that as a matter of principle, the company should publish all pending legislation and leave the question of materiality to investors’ judgement.

“By choosing to ignore pending legislations, they are setting a bad example for the companies coming to list such instruments in future,” he said.

n.subramanian@livemint.com

Excise scam money used to fund terror'

PANAJI: Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said he would write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, fearing that money from a multi-crore excise scam linking Goa with Indian border states is being used to fund terrorist activities.

Parrikar has also alleged that the state excise department has been issuing permits to companies furnishing bogus addresses.

·                                 Incidentally, the state government's reply that the state finance secretary is investigating earlier allegations made by Parrikar on the excise scam has not satisfied the opposition leader, who has demanded that the matter be immediately handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

·                                  

Raising the matter during question hour, Parrikar said that illicit alcohol consignments worth crores of rupees are being sent to border states in the north and north-east of India.

"Money from this scam is being used to fund terror networks. The excise departments from other states such as Punjab, Rajasthan and the north eastern states are involved," he said. The opposition leader also reminded the House that he had first made these allegations in the last assembly session.

"I believe the prime minister is an upright person and I will write to him to probe into this," Parrikar said. Chief minister Digambar Kamat, however, did not commit to a criminal investigation into the scam.

"The finance secretary is currently conducting an inquiry into the matter," he told the House.

Parrikar retorted: "The finance secretary does not have powers to conduct such an inquiry. We have to verify the signature of the superintendent of excise on the order, which the finance secretary will not be able to do. He cannot go to Punjab and Rajasthan to investigate the matter."

"The only thing that needs to be investigated is who made the payment for the 1.04 lakh litres of alcohol that was imported in September. Trace the source of payment and you will find out who the culprit is," Parrikar said.

UBS deal died over unexplained money

Mumbai / Pune: The reluctance of a top Swiss bank to help Indian investigators is slowing the unravelling of an intricate multinational trail of money transfers—across Switzerland, New York, the British Virgin Islands and Pune—between an Indian horse owner and a fugitive Saudi arms dealer, according to officials in the Enforcement Directorate, the government body that investigates economic crimes.

A top official in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) who did not wish to be identified confirmed on Friday that the agency’s officials, in December 2007, had advised the Indian government not to clear a Rs467 crore plan by UBS (United Bank of Switzerland) AG, the world’s biggest wealth management company, to buy the Indian mutual fund business of Standard Chartered Bank because the Swiss bank had not helped track international money transfers of Pune horse owner Hassan Ali Khan.

Investigators from the ED, who recently claim to have found $8 billion in the Swiss bank accounts of Hasan Ali Khan, say they now have evidence of a $300 million transfer to him (via a Chase Manhattan bank account in New York) from billionaire Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, whose arms supplies to Tamil terrorists, the LTTE, were revealed during an investigation into the 1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

alt="Home turf: Hassan Ali Khan (second from right, in safari suit) with wife Rheema (second from left) and father-in-law Abbas Ali Khan (fourth from right). " title="Home turf: Hassan Ali Khan (second from right, in safari suit) with wife Rheema (second from left) and father-in-law Abbas Ali Khan (fourth from right). " v:shapes="_x0000_s1026">Home turf: Hassan Ali Khan (second from right, in safari suit) with wife Rheema (second from left) and father-in-law Abbas Ali Khan (fourth from right).

As the Bombay high court hears an Enforcement Directorate plea not to return passports to Khan and his wife Rheema, theHindustan Timeshas previewed a secret ED report that reveals the agency’s attempts to find the links between Khan and Khashoggi.

As evidence the report quotes a notation, “funds from weapon sales”, made by UBS AG, a top-tier investment banking and securities firm, after it froze an account belonging to Hassan Ali Khan, the Pune horse owner, following the $300 million transfer to him—it isn’t clear when— from Khashoggi.

“I would not like to talk about this,” said UBS India managing director and chairperson Manisha Girotra, referring all questions to the bank’s spokesperson.

“As a truly global entity, our policy on such issues is to comply with the laws and regulations in each host country, while at the same time, complying with the banking laws in Switzerland,” the UBS spokesperson said in an email. The spokesperson declined to comment specifically on the arms sale notation.

The government has told the Bombay high court that the Khans are “virtually absconding” and if they are allowed to leave India, investigations could collapse. Khan’s counsel, Milind Sathe, said his client “regularly appeared before the Directorate”. Asked where Khan was, his main lawyer, Mugdha Jadhav, said: “Can’t tell you, sorry.”

At Pune race course, HT found Hassan Ali Khan’s father-in-law, Abbas Ali Khan, who said his son-in-law was “not well” and in Mumbai. He dismissed all allegations.

Hassan Ali Khan has three Indian passports—issued from Pune, Patna and Mumbai; he also applied for passports from Guwahati and Chandigarh— and he and his wife have applied to Switzerland for citizenship, another ED official who did not wish to be identified said. Passport authorities in those three cities are now trying to find out how three passports were issued to Khan.

Kashoggi now lives a quiet life in the principality of Monaco. There is a British warrant out for his arrest.

Another top official at ED who also did not wish to be identified said Kashoggi’s $300-million transfer was “only the tip of the iceberg” and that the agency was trying to connect the dots in the global trail, which also includes evidence of another $290 million in two “fictitious companies” created by Hassan Ali Khan and a friend in the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. All the money transfers are recorded in a laptop seized in January 2007 from Hassan Ali Khan’s house in Pune and while investigators believe this is laundered money, there is no direct evidence. They would also need corroboratory evidence to establish that these transfers have anything to do with terror networks.

“These are all false allegations,” said Sathe. Asked about the $300 million transfer from Khashoggi, he said: “When the Enforcement Directorate questions us, we shall give a reply.”

The ED official, who confirmed the agency’s involvement in spiking UBS’ deal with Standard Chartered, said the Swiss bank had told Indian investigators to get a letter rogatory, a formal request from an Indian court to a Swiss court. This is a complicated process and would have needed to be routed through the ministry of external affairs, and it would have involved finding and presenting clear evidence of Hassan Ali’s links to terror.

It now seems apparent that UBS’ stand in the ongoing investigation led to the collapse of its deal with Standard Chartered Bank.

In a December report, Mint said that the Reserve Bank, India’s banking regulator, would not approve the deal because of possible money laundering through the Swiss bank involving certain transactions of Khan. On Friday, RBI declined to comment. “We are a civil body,” a spokesperson said. “Whenever we find violations, issued to be investigated, we hand over the information to the Enforcement Directorate. We have not issued any comments on the issue of UBS.”

In December, Standard Chartered, the parent of Standard Chartered Bank in India, sent a notice to stock exchanges in London and Hong Kong, where it is listed, saying it would not proceed with the deal, without giving a reason.(Hindustan Times)

CRIMES OF RBI & CBI & IT'S COVER-UP
- An appeal to honourable supreme court of India

The central bank of India  Reserve Bank Of India , which is supposed
to direct the fiscal policies of government of India , has failed to
do so. It has enabled many looters in the garb of entrepreneurs  , to
swindle the exchequer to the tune of crores of rupees. The premiere
investigating agency of India CBI has failed to nail the culprits.

Hereby , I do request the honourable supreme court of India to treat
this as a PIL application & to provide speedy justice in following
cases.

Read the article "Crimes @ RESERVE BANK OF INDIA"  @ http://theftinrbi.blogspot.com/
, http://theftinrbi.rediffblogs.com/  , http://theftinrbi.wordpress.com/

Read the article "PF scam shame shame judges" @
http://corruptmajority.blogspot.com/ ,
http://corruptjudges.rediffblogs.com/

AN APPEAL TO UNION FINANCE MINISTER GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA

An age old saying – AS THE KING SO DOES THE SUBJECTS. In india various
financial scams, crimes & it's cover-ups have taken place amounting to
billions of billions of dollars have taken place, made possible , just
due to the involvement of the king – the netas & government officials
themselves in the shameful act – the crime.

The tax officials are utterly corrupt, the wards of these officials
spend double their pappa's salary just during
weekends. Now, realise their financial might. These ill-gotten wealth
is destabilising our economy & might have even found it's way into the
hands of underworld, terorrists. INDIA WILL BE DEFEATED FROM
CRIMINAL FORCES WITHIN LIKE THIS NOT FROM THE EXTERNAL FORCES.

Hereby, the HRW urges you to make public:

1. the financial worth of finance minister to tax official at circle
level, on annual basis including his spouse's worth & property
details.

2. to make public the NPAs, losses & monies under litigation by both
private & public sector banks annually.

3. to make public measures taken to recover these monies.

4. to publish annual accounts with complete details of discretionary
funds allotted to the defence ministry, president, prime minister,
chief ministers , governors & intelligence agencies.

Public want to know whether proper discretion is being applied while
spending.

R.B.I CURRENCY THEFT CASE – COVER-UP ACT BY C.B.I?
- AN APPEAL TO THE UNION FINANCE MINISTER & CENTRAL VIGILANCE  COMMISSION

Even in ordinary branches of banks , the safety
locker room keys & currency chest room keys are with senior managers
only. with advance of technology various electronic gadgets like
burglar alarms, user id & palm readers are in use. It is quite
shocking to know that , in high security RBI CURRENCY PRESS , mysore
these gadgets were not in use & the keys were easily accessible to
ordinary security guards. Also, in mysore press there is no proper
accounting practices for blank papers issued for printing , after
printing is done accounts of accepted notes & rejected notes is not
at all kept. CBI is putting the whole blame on an ordinary security
guards & hurrying to close the case. The repeated thefts are not at
all possible by security guards alone without the help of insiders /
higher executives. CBI is trying to fool whom?

Even with respect to my complaint regarding
recruitment scandal complaint no: DPG/B/2005/80049 (2) (RBI) new
complaint no: DPG/Z/2005/90040, neither CBI nor secretary ( finance
sector ) department of economic affairs government of india nor the
RBI governor has taken any steps till date , why?
Hereby, e-voice  urges the honourable union finance
minister & CENTRAL VIGILANCE COMMISSION to look into the matter & to
provide speedy justice to all concerned.

C.B.I COVERING UP THEFTS IN R.B.I
Lie detector tests for C.B.I officers ?

Nowadays even free e-mail accounts need password to operate, to
operate a bank locker there are multi level security settings.
However , it is ridiculous, unbelievable to note that in the high
security reserve bank of india currency note press mysore, there were
no different key sets , palm readers, pass words, no different
authorised persons, no troops of security guards, to access the area.
Just only one security guard- a constable.

It is a cock & bull story of C.B.I, that all alone a single security
guard stole the booty. There must be a crime syndicate. The C.B.I
officers themselves must be subjected to polygraph, brain mapping
tests to know why they are lying , to cover-up whom? The C.B.I has
not answered previous questions raised by  us. The C.B.I must answer
the following questions :

1. who were responsible for selling the good printing machine at
security press nasik to scamster karim lala telgi as scrap ?
2. who recruited the candidates below merit rankings in R.B.I for
what criminal roles ?
3. how many irregularities have taken place in R.B.I till date ?
4. who is responsible for installing, operating & supervising the
security set-up in R.B.I ?
5. how the raw materials ie number of paper sheets, ink, etc are
accounted for in inward stores & while issuing for printing ?
6. how wastages, scrap of ink , papers , etc in the printing process
are accounted for?
7. How the finished goods ie currency notes are accounted for ?
8. Who keeps physical figures & possession of goods, inventory of all
the above?
9. How the scrap paper is disposed off ?
10. From security angle who keeps track from start till dispatch ?

ILLEGAL RECRUITMENT IN R.B.I CURRENCY NOTE PRESS RESULTING IN FREQUENT  THEFTS ???

Dear sir,

I have applied for the post of STORES ASSISTANT in
1995 & for the post of PROCESS ASSISTANT in 1996 for vaccancies at
Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited ( BRBNMPL) MYSORE
& SALBONI. I didn't even get the interview/written test call letter.

However candidates with lesser merit ranking were selected. My
requests for a copy of merit ranking list fell on deaf ears.
In the end of 1996, i once again applied for the
posts of PROCESS ASSISTANT & MAINTANANCE ASSISTANT at BRBNMPL. This
time
round i got written test call letters for both posts. I have
successfully cleared the common written test for both posts.
Subsequently i got the interview call letters for both posts. I have
successfully appeared for the common interview for both posts.
However candidates of lesser merit were selected & i didn't get any
communication at all. My repeated requests for MERIT RANKING LIST
fell on deaf ears.

It is the criminals in R.B.I MANAGEMENT who
declared a good printing machine at nasik security press as scrap &
sold it to fake stamp paper king pin karim lala telgi It may be
possible that the criminals in the R.B.I MANAGEMENT selected
candidates who suited their criminal objectives. As a result there is
frequent occurrence of currency thefts & related
irregularities at R.B.I CURRENCY NOTE PRESS, mysore & salboni.
Hereby, i call upon the C.B.I to look into this matter.

Also, hereby i urge you to provide me justice by giving merit ranking
lists of all recruitments made from 1995onwards till date.
Specifically, for the above mentioned 4 posts in accordance with the
TRANSPARENCY /RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT of government of india.

SATYAM CO FRAUD - ARE YOU SINCERELY READY TO CATCH TAX  THEIVES , CORPORATE CRIMINALS  ?  - AN  APPEAL  TO UNION FINANCE MINISTER & KARNATAKA STATE FINANCE  MINISTER 

Corporate  fraud is nothing new to india    , satyam company is just a
new addition to it. Satyam co was able to commit such a huge fraud &
keep it under wraps for years goes to prove the honesty , integrity of
our public servants , government officials belonging to SEBI , RBI ,
tax dept , pollution control , labour  depts. , etc & the honesty of
auditors & company secretaries. Ofcourse , still there are few honest
people in public service , auditing & company secretaryship , but
majority of them are hand in gloves with corporate criminals.
Definitely , this fraud will also be brushed under the carpet after
certain time as other frauds happened , afterall these frauds are the
money spinners for political party funding , mafia , underworld &
other criminal activities. 

In india , tax compliance is worse. In our criminal justice system,
there is rigorous imprisonment for a pick-pocketer stealing Rs.10.
even the authorities spend thousands of rupees in legally prosecuting
him & the thief spends a year or more as punishment behind bars. Where
as there is no commensurate investigation nor  legal prosecution nor
punishment  for corporate thieves , evading tax to the tune of crores
of rupees. In contrast, those tax thieves pay a part of that booty to
the ministers & political parties and get crores of rupees tax
exemptions , incentives from the government. Government is rewarding
corporate criminals.
                    The tax officials of central & state governments
are hand in glove with these corporate criminals & traders. For a
price, they are helping corporates & traders in evading tax. Most of
the tax officials are wealthy & leading luxurious  lifestyles , much
beyond the scope of their legal income. The black money thus generated
every year by tax evasion , is many times more than our total annual
budget allocation. As a result, all our fiscal reforms fail &
inflation is soaring. This black money is the source of illegal
funding of political parties , terrorist outfits & underworld. It is a
greater threat to national unity & integrity.
                    Both the central government & karnataka state
government  have failed to collect the full , actual tax dues from
corporates & traders. As a result , the governments don't have enough
money in their coffers  even to provide basic needs like health care ,
education , safe drinking water , etc to the poor & needy. For every
Rs.100 tax evaded , one poor patient is dying without medical care ,
10 poor persons lack education , 100 persons don't get safe drinking
water , 100 persons barely survive on a single piece meal per day , 20
persons starve. Most of The government officials , ministers &
people's representatives who have deliberately failed in their duties
of tax collection & welfare of poor citizens , SHAMELESSLY indulge in
luxurious lifestyle at the expense of poor tax payer . they live in
paltial bungalows , chauffer driven AC cars , all living food expenses
paid by exchequer , dine at 5-star hotels , only drink bottled mineral
water ,  eat non-vegetarian dishes , drink alcohol  sitting before
mahatma gandhi's photograph & preaching mahatma's ideals. Mahatma
preached & practiced simple living , vegetarianism & he was teto
teller , he paid for his expenses from his earnings . these public
servants are parasites , who are making merry at the expense of tax
payer.
                    Some non government organisations ( NGO) have
formed trusts and under the aegis of those trusts are running
educational institutions , hospitals , community halls , etc , in the
name of providing free / subsidised services like education , health
care , etc to the poor. It is only in record books , they conduct fake
medical camps , self employment training camps . in practice they are
running these educational  institutions , hospitals & community halls
as commercial enterprises & collecting huge fees. they are not even
remitting full fees collected to the trust account & swindling the
money. no outsider is allowed to become a member of these NGOs , only
their cronies & their family members are in these trusts.
                   Numerous NGOs promoted by religious bodies , mutts
are swindling public & government money to the tune of crores of
rupees. Nobody dares to question  the heads , pontiffs of these
mutts , as at his feet VVIPs , ministers fall down. These religious
bodies are hot beds of fundamentalism , terrorism  & mafia.  Hwere is
the accountability of religious bodies & political parties in in
india ?
                    Inspite of bringing specific cases to the notice
of authorities , they are mum ? hereby , E-VOICE OF HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
offers it's services ( subject to conditions ) to the governments of
india & karnataka , in apprehending the criminals – tax evaders. Are
you ready?

MEGA FRAUD  BY  GOVERNMENT OF INDIA – Rs 85 000 crore tax arrears  waiver   +  non performing assets of  banks to the tune of Rs. 200 000 crore
-         An appeal to Honourable Supreme Court of India 

India has become an IT power , taken giant strides in the field of
science & technology. More & more MNCs are investing in India. However
due to our skewed , corrupt economic system , lack of accountability
on the part of corporates & public servants – a wide chasm has been
created between the ultra rich & the poor , the fruits of development
has all been usurped by the rich & mighty. This is the basic reason
for growth of black economy , growth of  naxalism , terrorism &
underworld in India. As per a recent study by UN organization ,
majority of Indians ie more than 50 crore Indians are barely
sustaining on Rs.13 per day earnings , a whole family depends upon Rs.
13 , they are struggling to get just single meal per day. People are
starving to death , farmers are committing suicides , people are
selling their own children for a bag of grains. Whereas , corporate
biggies , public servants are leading luxurious lifestyles , having
big parties full of  drinks , non-veg foods not at their papaa's
expense but at the expense of public exchequer , out of the tax dues ,
loan repayments cheated to the public exchequer. 

The banks insist on matching collateral security  even for self
employment / educational loans by poor for an amount of Rs.5000. if
the loans are not paid in time , rowdies / recovery agents are sent by
banks to collect the amount by muscle power. As a final step , banks
auction-off properties of collateral security to recover it's dues.
Even, the tax authorities mercilessly extract tax dues to the last
penny from the middle class. 

The same banks, overestimate the project cost of corporates ,
overestimate the project feasibility & it's worth and coolly extend
hundreds of crores of rupees loans without matching collateral
security. The banks extend overdraft facilities without matching
collateral securities , to these corporates. When loans are not
repaid, no rowdies are sent by banks. The promoters , directors of
such tainted corporates drain – off the companies resources cunningly
through insider trading , finally making the company sick. Such
companies don't pay taxes , electricity bills , water bills , etc
properly to respective authorities. The authorities are deaf , dumb &
blind to all these actions of  such corporates. At the end , banks
write-off such loans as non performing assets (NPA) & file case before
courts for recovery of dues. Even if the properties of collateral
security are auctioned-off  dues cann't be fully realized. Finally
public money is swindled . ALL THIS IS POSSIBLE  DUE TO THE CONNIVANCE
OF KEY BANK OFFICIALS , TAX OFFICIALS WITH CRIMINAL CORPORATES SINCE
THE INCEPTION OF SUCH COMPANIES . THIS ALSO POSES UNFAIR COMPETITION
TO HONEST CORPORATES. How to stop this ? by making corporate
accountability ,accountability of bank , tax officials more stringent
with penal provisions . afterall , they are playing with public money
not their papa's property. 

Already , by the connivance of public servants , bank , tax officials
we have witnessed many scams like harshad Mehta , ketan parekh ,
hawala , etc and  more than Rs. 2000000 crore NPAs are on the books of
the banks. Now, the government of India is planning to waive-off tax
arrears of corporates to the tune of Rs.85000 crore , why ? read
vijaya Karnataka kannada daily dated 04th January 2007. just look at
this in the backdrop of "QUESTIONS FOR MONEY BY SOME MPs" and "MP
LOCAL AREA DEVELOPMENT FUND ALLOCATION FOR A PRICE SCANDAL". The
government is always unresponsive , careless towards  the sufferings
of poor , however it is always on toes to help out corporates that too
criminal ones but not honest corporates. Why ? 

HRW has extended it's services to GOI months back itself , to
apprehend tax thieves , till date there is no reply from GOI , why ? 

Hereby , E-VOICE OF HRW requests the Honourable Supreme Court of India
to order GOI , 

1.      to make necessary amendments to companies act , to make the
promoters , directors of the corporates personally accountable for all
their actions.
2.      to constitute committees consisting of public persons with powers
to scrutinize & verify all the actions of corporates for insider
trading  like – selling products , materials  , shares to their sister
concerns at discounted prices  or buying products , materials  ,
shares from their sister concerns at inflated prices or  lending loans
at discount rates to their sister concerns or taking loans from their
sister concerns at high rate of interest or loaning materials ,
machines to their sister concerns , etc.
3.      to constitute committees consisting of public persons , to
scrutinize & verify the annual personal tax returns filed by key bank
officials & tax officials , who have amassed riches & leading
luxurious life styles much beyond the scope of their legal known
sources of income.
4.      to recover all tax dues , loan dues , etc from the corporates from
the personal properties , wealth of promoters , directors of such
companies.
5.      to put behind bar the key bank officials who have helped the
corporates in swindling public money by overestimating project
viability , worth and by overlooking the insider trading of promoters
and still extending loans to them.
6.      to put behind bars tax officials who have helped such corporates
in  swindling public money.
7.      to take all the necessary help from public like as services
extended by HRW in apprehending tax thieves.
8.      to recover & protect public money at any cost.
9.      to confiscate all money , properties possessed by directors of such
criminal corporates  & properties of corrupt bank , tax officials ,
public servants.
10.     to declare illegal black money kept by corporate criminals ,
politicians , etc in the banks of tax haven countries like Trinidad ,
Mauritius , Switzerland , etc as national property of India , as
public property of government of India & to secure that money to
Indian exchequer. 

QUESTIONS FOR MONEY – PARLIAMENTARY ACTS  & LEGISLATIONS  FOR  ????                                                                             -  improper functioning of democracy in india 

    the vohra committee report has proved the criminalisation of
politics in india. There are many number of criminals in the
parliament & state legislatures. Some of those criminals are cabinet
ministers as well as members of vital parliamentary committees.
Thereby, they are in a position to manipulate , enact laws favouring ,
benefitting the criminals their cronies. 

    Just see how the GOI gave export incentive of Rs.1800 crore to
reliance petroleum although it didn't even export a barrel. Reliance
infocom & tata teleservices were CDMA mobile service providers & have
paid license fee of few crores only equal to landline fees without any
competitive bidding . They were supposed to provide mobile service to
operate like fixed phones within a radius of 40k.m. however they were
providing service like mobile service from one state to another like
GSM mobile service providers. By this act of RIC & TTSL , the GSM
providers who have paid thousands of license fee in competitive
bidding were economically hurt , the dispute went to court. The court
was on the verge of pronouncing it's verdict awarding damages worth Rs.
18000 crore to GSM players & Rs. 3000 crore of license fees with
penalty to GOI. The government announced a unified telecom license
regime with retrospective effect. Thereby, the GOI lost thousands of
crores of rupees & the share holders of GSM players lost thousands of
crores. Onceagain the RIC was charged by PSU bsnl THAT RELIANCE IS RE-
ROUTING INTERNATIONAL CALLS AS LOCAL CALLS & SWINDLING THE GOI. This
time too, GOI bailed it out. during the dispute between ambani
brothers the younger ambani mr. Anil ambani director of reliance
himself has stated that for the favours received from the GOI , the
company gifted some shares to then IT & COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER mr.
Pramod mahajan. 

   Various indian & multinational companies are looting indian
exchequer to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees , through
lobbying / bribing. Take the recent case of allotment of 3G spectrum. 

   In india, indirect democracy is the form of governance. In this
form, people's representatives are bound to raise the questions ,
issues concerning their constituents on their behalf , on the floor of
the house. However the sad part in india even after 58 years of
democracy , is the lobbying is at it's peak. The lobbying is a
gentleman's white collared crook's  way of forming favour seeker's
group , creating a corpus to pay lumpsum bribe & influencing decision
making.
   The people's representatives are bound to represent their people
first , then their party & party think tanks. India has come to this
sorry state of affairs , widespread corruption , huge black economy &
rampant poverty, all due to inefficient legislations & enforcements.
These think tanks & IAS lobby, consider themselves as most super
brains on earth & gives out suggestions . the present state of affairs
is a barometer of their brilliance. These think tanks & IAS lobby are
the hand maidens of lobbyists / bribers. 

THREAT TO INDIA'S SECURITY BY CORPORATE CRIMINALS
- An appeal to honourable prime minister of india & honourable chief
minister of karnataka 

In india , since ages certain section of people – dalits , tribals are
being oppressed in the name of caste by forward caste people. The name
sake independence has not changed the lives of dalits & tribals. The
upper caste people were in control of government & economic sector
before independence as well as after independence too. The upper caste
people are now MPs , MLAs & are running businesses . they have framed
rules , laws to suit their ends. They are getting bank loans ,
subsidies , tax cuts , etc , by greasing the palms of those in power –
their own caste men. The reservation policy is just a vote winning
gimmick of forward caste politicians , it is neo divide & rule policy.
Only few dalits with money & contacts have benefitted , by the
reservation policy of government. Majority of them are still
sufferring from utter poverty & social oppression.
Now, due to rapid industrialisation & globalisation a new economic
divide has taken place – rich & poor , haves & have nots. Now,
economically poor are also being oppressed along with dalits. The
forward caste people in government have framed laws to suit their
ends , they have provided concessional priority loans , tax cuts ,
subsidies , etc from the government to corporate sector . The
corporate sector has demanded & got monetary benefits , infrastructure
facilities from the government . however the same corporates , MNCs
are violating statuotary laws & are averse to social welfare measures
of the government . they are averse to provide jobs to dalits ,
tribals & poor , why ? these corporates are bribing the labour , tax
department & other government officials . as a result the government
is loosing tax revenues to the tune of thousands of crores every
year , the government doesn't have money to provide social welfare
measures to common people. The lives of common people are under
threat. Now,
the number of common people dying due to starvation , lack of health
care is more than in a war field. The threat to unity & integrity of
india is more from the corporate sector than pakistan or china.
Now, the government of india & other state governments are literally
under corporate control. we have brought to the notice of government
cases of statuotary law violations by various corporate entities ,
till date no action has been taken. Why ? hereby , we once again
offers it's conditional services to the government of india &
karnataka in apprehending corporate criminals , corrupt tax , labour ,
pollution control board offricials. Are you ready sir ???? 

Black money in foreign banks amounts to plunder of nation: Supreme Court

Black money stashed away in foreign banks is not just a case of tax evasion, it is “mind- boggling crime” amounting to “theft and plunder of national wealth’’, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday.

In a frank message to the Union government, the court wanted it to realise the gravity of the issue. “We are talking about mind-boggling crime. We are not on the niceties of various treaties,’’ a bench of justices B Sudershan Reddy and SS Nijjar told solicitor-general Gopal Subramanium.

Earlier, the government had contended that money in foreign banks was a case of tax evasion and it cannot make public the names of Indian account holders.

“The authorities have to go on the basis of mutual agreement with various countries where the money is stashed,’’ Subramium said.

“This is the problem worrying us. It is not only about tax evasion and has something more,’’ the bench said after it was pointed out that the source of the money could be narcotics, terror fund or arms dealing.

The court was hearing a petition filed by noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani and some retired bureaucrats and police officers.

Standard Chartered tries to cover up its messy past, but SEBI is in a slumber   

 Standard Chartered Bank’s draft red herring prospectus to raise $500 million-$700 million through the first-ever issue of Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs) has completely blanked out at least 15 litigations pending against it in connection with the securities scam of 1992 and a foreign exchange scandal involving the misuse of its vostro account, also in the 1990s.

The prospectus has reportedly been cleared by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which is fully aware that most litigations pertaining to the 1992 scam are still dragging their way through the Indian judicial system. It is shocking that the Bank has attempted to avoid disclosure, given that the Bank's deep involvement in the scam is widely known in India and the IDRs are being sold to Indian investors. What is worse, when asked about the failure to disclose litigation pending against the Bank, SEBI has chosen to not to respond to the emails marked to the entire top brass of the Bank.

On checking with the Bank, Arijit De, head of external communications, has this to say: “With reference to your email to Neeraj Swaroop, our response is as below: The IDRs represent the shares of Standard Chartered PLC, UK , the ultimate parent company of Standard Chartered Bank, India. In accordance with the disclosure requirements under SEBI Regulations, IDR Rules, other applicable laws and international practice, SC PLC has made appropriate disclosures of all material issues in the draft offer document filed with SEBI. We have nothing further to add beyond what is disclosed in the DRHP.”

However, a simple reading of page 414 of its draft red herring prospectus suggests otherwise. It says: “As of the date of this Draft Red Herring Prospectus, neither the Company, any member of the Group, any Director, or any material associate of the Company (emphasis ours) are involved in any material governmental, legal or arbitration proceedings or litigation and the Company is not aware of any pending or threatened material governmental, legal or arbitration proceedings or litigation relating to the Company, any member of the Group, any Director or any material associate which, in either case, may have a significant effect on the performance of the Group, and there are no liabilities or defaults (including arrears and potential liabilities) in relation to such material proceedings or litigation which would be required to be disclosed under the SEBI Regulations.”

Moreover, the cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate and in the Special Court do not all pertain to the Indian operations (the Bank's Indian operation itself is significantly large and important, especially after the impact of the global financial crisis). In fact, many of them specifically name a former chairman of the Bank, Rodney Galpin.

Among the cases that we have information about include some in the Special Court set up to try the securities scam related offences (MA 365/2003 – SCB v/s the Custodian & others; Suit 45 of 1995 SCB v/s Andhra Bank; Suit No 6 of 1994 SCB v/s Andhra Bank and Suit No 32 of SCB v/s Andhra Bank). Then there are at least half a dozen cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate, many of them in 2002. We have sent a list of all these cases to SEBI, but have no response from the regulator.

Are these cases serious enough to make a difference to the Bank's global operations and performance? Probably not. Also, many Indian companies have successfully raised funds, even after disclosing that the main promoters were accused of murder or worse. The issue is the Bank's lack of transparency, while selling a financial instrument to Indian investors.

What is worse, the failure to insist on this disclosure reflects even more badly on the market watchdog. In its very first IDR clearance, SEBI has shown that it is probably overawed with the international bank's plans to raise funds in India or its fat, 801-page offer document. Either way, it is not insisting on the same transparency and disclosure standards that it expects from Indian companies, which should be a matter of serious concern, given that global banks have not covered themselves in glory in the lead-up to the financial crisis of 2008. — Sucheta Dalal

Too many loopholes

Anand Adhikari        

Hidden-camera videos of the country's three leading private banks' officials allegedly advising customers on money-laundering recently kicked up a storm. Heads have started to roll at the junior levels in these banks - ICICI, HDFC and Axis. But punishing wrongdoers is unlikely to stem the irregularities. A commenter on Cobrapost.com, the Delhi-based website which conducted the sting, hit the nail on the head. He said the problem was not just these three banks - it was that the entire system was riddled with loopholes. "It's a good opportunity for the regulators to plug these loopholes," he wrote.

He pointed to the multiplicity of acceptable identity documents - for instance, the PAN (permanent account number) card, passport and Aadhaar unique identification (UID) number - and the fact that none of them are interlinked. "It's a real pity for a country which produces some of the best IT talents in the world," he added. Contrast India with the United States, where social security numbers are in place since 1935.

There are numerous problems at multiple levels - the industry regulator, the government, and the banks themselves. At the level of the bank, the core issue is the approach to banking, as banks are caught up in an aggressive sales culture. The ones named in Cobrapost's allegations have said they do business ethically. However, all three declined to speak to Business Today until they had investigated the matter fully.

At the level of the regulator - the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - there is an urgent need to improve the frequency and quality of inspection. More importantly, there is a need to overhaul Know Your Customer (KYC) norms for financial intermediaries such as banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), insurers and mutual funds.

And at the government level, there is a need to speed up Aadhaar - the national unique identification (UID) number project - as it would eliminate the multiplicity of documents.

The central bank's KYC guidelines require banks to collect three documents - photographs, identity proof, and address proof - from customers before they can open an account or get a locker. If a customer has no UID number, the bank has no option but to accept documents such as voter ID, electricity bill, passport, or PAN card.

"The root cause of many of the problems today is the multiplicity of enforcement agencies, array of regulations and variety of documents for the identification of a single person," says Pavan Kumar Vijay, Managing Director of Corporate Professional Group, a corporate advisory firm.

The Cobrapost videos show bankers asking for easily available KYC documents, and, in some cases, even advising customers not to submit a PAN card so they can stay off the tax radar. Bankers say some customers get away with submitting a lease agreement and rent receipts as address proof. "These are the most suspect cases, where the bank should do a ground check or periodically re-check whether the customer still has the same residence or job," says the chairman of a public sector bank.

Some banks accept a company ID card as proof of identity, and a letter from an employer as residence proof. That is in line with RBI guidelines, but banks are also required to update the customer data from time to time. But many bankers say these checks get short shrift, as the bank is focused on attracting new customers.

"The problem is not with the KYC, but its implementation," says M.D. Mallya, who recently retired as Chairman of the state-owned Bank of Baroda. He may be right, as the genuineness of even crucial government-issued documents is not always above quest ion.

According to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), there were close to 96 million PAN cards as of March 2010, but only 34 million tax returns were filed.

The PAN card is one of the most abused documents. The CAG noted in 2010/11 that big tax evaders spread out their money by opening multiple bank accounts with fake PAN cards. Tackling PAN card fraud is not enough, though. The Income Tax Act allows those who claim not to have a PAN card to fill out Form 60 and say they have no taxable income, or Form 61 to say their income is from agriculture. A Cobrapost video shows a banker allegedly advising an undercover re-porter to fill out Form 60 to avoid detection by tax authorities.

So just by filing Form 60 and without submitting a PAN card, a tax evader can deposit cash of over Rs 50,000 in a bank or post office, no questions asked. According to banking industry sources, the RBI and the finance ministry are investigating cases in which banks have not reported transactions backed by Form 60 or 61 to the government's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram

Eventually, Aadhaar will resolve the KYC issue. But until that happens, some argue, it is impossible to require just one or a few documents as acceptable proof of identity and residence. "There is the issue of financial inclusion, or people having different sets of documents," says a banker from one of three banks named by Cobrapost. He adds that some people genuinely do not have taxable income, many do not have a passport, and for some, the only address proof is an employer's letter.

"Banking is a serious business where service, compliance and safety are core elements," says A.K. Khandelwal, former Bank of Baroda chairman and author of the book Dare to Lead. But private banks have a strong culture of cross-selling their subsidiaries' products, and increasing the number of savings and cur rent account deposits.

"Nurturing an ethics-based corporate culture, with provisions to claw back performance-based incentives... can help correct the current approach of mobilising fresh business by any means," adds Khandelwal.

The Cobrapost expose shows bankers allegedly marketing insurance products to convert black money into white. Insurance products are profitable, because the bank earns a high first-year commission on the premium. The bank manager could benefit, too: many banks and insurers offer rewards for high sales, such as foreign junkets.

Insurance products are easy to sell. The bank's KYC requirements are sufficient proof for investing any amount in an insurance scheme. A PAN card is not necessary, even though some single-premium policy amounts are as high as Rs 30 lakh. Many banks sell policies that mature after seven years. At that point, nobody can question the source of the money, because income-tax laws do not require banks to keep records for more than seven years.

RBI Governor D. Subbarao

Cobrapost has also alleged that the three banks have been laundering money. Money-laundering means the transfer of money from illegal sources - drugs and arms trafficking, terrorism, extortion and theft - into the financial system through fictitious bank accounts and hawala transactions. Cobrapost alleges that the banks suggested opening accounts in the name of the applicant's spouse, cousin, or friend, which is not money-laundering in the strict sense.

By law, bank employees have the authority to ask a customer for details of transactions that are not consistent with the customer's profile. The onus is on the bank to ensure that the account is not being used to launder money. Insurance companies, too, are required to report cash transactions of over Rs 10 lakh a month to the FIU.

Following Cobrapost's allegations, the RBI and the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority are investigating KYC violations and the background of customers who have put large sums into singlepremium insurance plans. ICICI Bank's life insurance arm has launched a probe, too.

Some in the industry say the FIU is seeking details of policy holders with high-value single-premium policies. The RBI, too, is investigating high-value transactions. "If there is a series of cash transactions valued at Rs 10 lakh or more in a month, they need to be reported under AML," says a public-sector banker on condition of anonymity. AML refers to anti-money laundering rules.

Banks are required to report demand drafts, mail transfers and travellers' cheques worth Rs 50,000 and more to the RBI. A source in the central bank says: "The investigation will also look at the extent of complacency shown by the top management of these banks."

Some bankers argue that it would be unfair to blame the top management of the three private banks that Cobrapost has named - the country's largest in terms of market capitalisation. ICICI and HDFC have nearly 3,000 branches each, and Axis Bank has close to 2,000. The Cobrapost investigation covered some 50 branches. All three banks have comprehensive codes of conduct for employees. For example, ICICI Bank, with a balance sheet of Rs 5 lakh crore, has a detailed manual outlining due diligence for accepting a customer.

A day after Cobrapost published its investigation, ICICI and HDFC banks appointed audit firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu to carry out an independent forensic enquiry in addition to their own internal investigations into Cobrapost's allegations. The stock market has reacted, too: the banks' stocks have fallen more than the BSE Sensex.

"The RBI may also put the brakes on new branch licences to some banks," says Kashyap Jhaveri, analyst at Emkay Global Financial Services, in a recent report. An analyst who manages the money of foreign institutional investors says the probe could expand to other banks. A Goldman Sachs report notes: "These developments, if proven true, could potentially lead to slower growth across private banks' deposits and business."

The RBI's deadline for a scrutiny of the head office and branches of the three private banks is March 31. The central bank is also studying whether the banks' gold coins and wealth management products could be potential ways to stash black money. RBI Deputy Governor K.C. Chakrabarty has downplayed the expose, saying: "If we find there is a need to further tighten any guidelines, we will do that."

Some in the industry say that Finance Minister Chidambaram's estimate that 46,800 people have taxable income of over Rs 1 crore is baffling, considering the growth of banks' wealth management services and the portfolio management services of mutual funds and brokerages.

In addition to being the government's debt manager, the RBI manages the country's monetary policy, and supervise and regulate banks. "There is a strong case of hiving off the banking supervision from RBI," suggests a banker.

The number of bank branches in the country has grown to 80,000. The RBI has some 20,000 employees, of which one-third are maintenance and technical staff. Some bankers question, however, whether adding layers of people will improve the situation.

Former RBI governor Bimal Jalan says: "We should learn from the current experience and see how we can improve our ethical governance system in implementing the banking guidelines."

There is also the issue of black money - estimated at Rs 10-15 lakh crore - being generated in the first place. It is common knowledge that much of it is stashed in other countries. The Cobrapost sting has highlighted that banks, which are highly regulated, seem to be doing little to bring tax evaders to book at home. It is anyone's guess what goes on in more loosely regulated financial intermediaries such as co-operative banks, NBFCs and credit societies.

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