Link between Bansal and railway bribery scam gets stronger

New revelations in the railway bribery case suggest that Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had ignored the ‘seniority’ rule and used his discretionary powers to favour Mahesh Kumar by appointing him as Member (Staff) on the Railway Board! Mahesh Kumar is currently in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody for allegedly trying to pay a bribe to Vijay Singla , nephew of Bansal, through a middleman last Friday. Singla is also in custody. In the railways, the senior-most Railway official with the charge of General Manager (GM) of an Open Line usually is elevated to the Railway Board. The only catch here is that GM of an Open Line should be left with at least one year of residuary service.[caption id=“attachment_758675” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Union Railway Minister Pawan Bansal. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] In this case, the senior-most railway official was RC Agarwal, GM, North-Western Railway. He is due to retire on 30 November 2014. Mahesh Kumar, GM Western Railway, before he was elevated to the board and now under suspension in the bribery case, is to retire on 31 July 2015. Pawan Bansal made a panel of three railway officials – RC Agarwal, Mahesh Kumar and VK Gupta (due for retirement on 31 May 2016) to pick a Railway Board member. And it was Bansal who presented the case of Mahesh Kumar superseding RC Agarwal as Board Member (Staff) before the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC). Prime Minister Manmhohan Singh heads the ACC and other members of the Committee are Minister of Personnel and Training V Narayanasamy and Railway Minister Pawan Bansal himself. Bansal picked Mahesh Kumar out of the three and recommended him as the next Member (Staff). The ACC ratified Bansal’s recommendation. Not only this! On 2 May, Mahesh took over as Member (Staff) and he continued to hold additional charge of GM, Western Railway. On 3 May, Mahesh was arrested and suspended. This is when the railway ministry hurriedly announced his successor, RC Agarwal, as GM, Western Railway. It is widely speculated within the railway ministry that Agarwal, who was superseded by Mahesh Kumar and hence the directly affected party in this entire promotions episode, may be the whistleblower in this case. Yesterday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seized all the files relating to the appointment of the Board Member (Staff). CBI has also taken away files about empanelment of three railway officials for the post of Member (Staff) and Bansal’s recommendation for Mahesh Kumar’s appointment before the ACC. The criminal conspiracy that is being suspected is that Bansal may have made a deal through his nephew Vijay Singla for payment of Rs 10 crore by Mahesh Kumar, who was promised dual charge as Member (Staff) and GM, Western Railway. And in course of time, Mahesh Kumar was also promised that he would be made Member (Electrical) as soon as the post became vacant. On 1 June, Railway Board chairman Vinay Mittal is due to retire. And it is believed that the present Member (Electrical) is expected to replace Mittal. In that case, Mahesh Kumar was to get Member (Electrical) on 1 June while holding additional charge as GM, Western Railway. It is suspected that some contractors, who have got huge railway projects on Western Railway and had lots to gain in this bribery case by having Mahesh Kumar remain as GM, Western Railway, arranged the cash and delivered the first installment of Rs 90 lakh at Vijay Singla’s house in Chandigarh. This is when CBI, which was keeping track through telephone tapping, moved in. According to CBI sources, the entire case would fall flat if the amount given to Vijay Singla is not the ‘bribery’ amount. And Bansal’s main link in this case is that he used his discretionary power to sideline the ‘seniority’ rule and appoint Mahesh Kumar Member (Staff) with additional charge as GM, Western Railway. The telephone conversations between Mahesh Kumar and Vijay Singla and other contractors are said to be bona fide proof to substantiate Bansal’s prime role in the bribery case, insiders claim.