Railway Bribery scandal: Mahesh Kumar suspended

Mahesh Kumar, Member (Staff) Railway Board who had allegedly paid a bribe of Rs 90 lakh to the nephew of Railway Minister P K Bansal, was suspended Saturday night.
Kumar was placed under suspension after the receipt of a report from CBI in the matter.

"Following the receipt of the official report from CBI, the Ministry of Railways places Mahesh Kumar, Member (Staff), under suspension," Additional Director General of Railways, Public Relations, Anil Saxena said.

Kumar was arrested by CBI after the agency apprehended him while paying the bribe to Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla reportedly for a plum post.

Kumar's suspension came hours after the Railway Ministry issued a statement maintaining that no rules had been flouted in the appointment as Member (Staff) earlier this week.

"No officer senior to Shri Mahesh Kumar fulfilling the norms governing appointment to the post of Member (Staff) has been superseded," the ministry said.

Bansal's own continuance in the Union Cabinet hangs in alance with the Congress Core Group not reaching a conclusion on his future in the ministry. The Group will meet again tomorrow to take a call on the issue.

Bansal has, however, insisted he has no business links with Singla.

"The charge of Member (Staff) will be looked after by Subodh Jain, Member (Engineering) and of General Manager, Western Railway by R C Agarwal, who is General Manager, North Western Railway," Saxena said.

Railway Minister's nephew, 3 others sent to 4 days CBI custody

 Vijay Singla, nephew of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, and three others were on Saturday sent in CBI custody for four days by a Delhi court which said it was necessary to find out the actual beneficiaries and other conspirators who were involved in the bribery case.

Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma allowed the agency to interrogate Singla and three other persons Sandip Goyal, Dharmendra Kumar and Vivek Kumar till 7^th May.

"I am of the view that only four accused have been arrested as yet whereas there are eight accused persons named in the FIR, two of whom have been arrested but are yet to be brought to Delhi.

"Considering the nature of the crime, I am of the opinion that custodial interrogation is essential to not only find out the source of the bribe amount but also the fact as to who are the actual beneficiaries and other conspirators other than those named in the FIR, if any. "I, therefore, grant police custody remand for four days," the Judge said on Saturday.

Bribery case: Bansal meets Cong top brass, presents his stance

Amid demands for his resignation over his nephew's arrest on bribery charge, Railway Minister P K Bansal on Saturday presented his case before the top Congress leadership, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi.

Bansal was a special invitee on Saturday to the meeting of the Congress Core Group, hours after party general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi dismissed the Opposition's demand for the Railway Minister's resignation.

The minister had earlier met the Prime Minister. Besides Gandhi and Singh, senior leaders Ahmad Patel, A K Antony, Sushilkumar Shinde and P Chidambaram are members of the Congress Core Group.

Bansal's nephew V Singla was on Friday arrested by CBI, which also held a Member of the Railway Board in connection with alleged bribery of Rs 90 lakh for fixing a top-level position in the government.

Another accused, Mahesh Kumar who is a Member (Staff) Railway Board, was arrested in Mumbai by a CBI team soon after he had flown in from Delhi.

CBI has registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC against him.

Earlier in the day, Congress brushed aside Opposition demands for Bansal's resignation, saying it has become a disease of the Opposition to make such demands.

"For those who are demanding resignation, it has become a disease," Congress General Secretary and head of media department, Janardan Dwivedi told reporters on Saturday.