Limits of Corruption

The year 2010 ended leaving India riddled with a spate of corruption cases.
There seems to be a race for the top “I am the most corrupt” slot in India. I am not talking about the top politicians.  They are a breed apart.
 
Next to the politicians in queue, are our top bureaucrats……the IAS officers who rule the country…who advise the top politicians, help them loot the nation and share the loot themselves.

There seem to be a race for the top slot.
Who is the most corrupt?
Who has amassed the largest wealth?

December 2010

Neera Yadav – a 1971 Batch IAS officer from Bulandsahar –  and.ex Chief Secretary of U. P. – was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment. The court found her guilty in a 2002 land allocation case during her term as Chairperson of Noida Development Authority.

In 1997, the UP IAS officers association polled her one of the “most corrupt officers” of the state.

Yet, in spite of a barrage of corruption charges against her, the Mulayam Singh Yadav government appointed her Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh in 2005.
However, in an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court intervened and directed the UP Government to remove her from the post. She is the country’s first IAS officer to be removed from the post in this manner.
Neera Yadav took voluntary retirement in 2007.

Her husband, Mahendra Singh, a former police officer, was a minister in the BJP government in the state. Singh later joined the Samajwadi Party.
Both Singh and Neera Yadav joined the BJP in 2009.

April 2010

O Ravi, a 1983 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, who is joint secretary in the Disaster Management division of the Home Ministry, and a native of Davangere, was raided by the CBI which conducted searches on 36 premises of the official and nine distillery owners in Daman, Mumbai and New Delhi.

Ravi has served at the Centre in various departments, including the ministries of Railways, Civil Aviation, Commerce and Industries and Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises for over nine years. He has also served in the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation for a brief period. He is in the Home Ministry since 2007.

It is alleged that one of the distillers paid Rs 25 lakhs to Ravi to get the present Administrator of Daman transferred out.
The CBI has registered a case against Ravi, two Excise inspectors and one sub-inspector at Daman for their connivance with six liquor manufacturers (Khemani, Royal, Jupiter, Krimpy, Silver Star and Dharmesh) based in the Union Territory, and causing a loss of Rs 340 crore to the Daman Administration.

February  2010However, the two cases mentioned above are peanuts.
The honours for being the most corrupt must go the IAS couple – Arvind  and Tinu Joshi.

Both Arvind and Tinu are 1979-batch IAS Officers of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. They have held important positions in the Centre since the late 80s.

Tinu served as Deputy Secretary in the PMO from July 1, 1988 to January 1, 1990 while Arvind was Joint Secretary in the Defence Ministry during the 1999 Kargil hostilities.

The Income Tax Department conducted searches at their residence in Bhopal leading to the recovery of currency notes worth Rs 3 crores. Further follow up action has unearthed the biggest corruption case in Indian history.

A 7000 page appraisal report prepared by the Income Tax department says that in the past three years the Joshis did futures trading worth Rs 312 crores. It says that they started investing through Standard Chartered-STCI Capital Markets Limited from April 3, 2007. On June 1, 2007 they had invested in shares of 111 big companies and purchased 10,000 to 50, 000 shares in each company. They have also acquired 25 flats and 400 acres of agricultural and non-agricultural land.

Most of these land dealings are benami. Over 100 acres of land have been purchased in the names of Arvind Joshi’s NRI sisters, Vibha and Abha.

The Income Tax Department has already started proceedings to attach the properties under Section 281-B of the Income Tax Act 1961.
The Enforcement Directorate has also started proceedings against the Joshis (including Arvind Joshi’s NRI sisters, Vibha and Abha) for violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999.

But the final action has to be taken by the state government.

Role of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)

What has the CVC been doing all the time?
Is it not their duty to collect information about corrupt people and take appropriate action themselves?