Micromax co-founder Agarwal steps down to clear name in bribery scandal

Following the arrest of the Micromax co-founder Rajesh Agarwal and his associate Manish Tuli, the company has released an official statement. 

As it stands now, Agarwal stepped down from his current role and has recused himself from the responsibilities of his position. “He will focus on the legal proceedings to clear his name of the alleged charges,” Micromax said in an official statement. The statement also clarified that Tuli has no association with the company.  “Rajesh Agarwal was present in his personal capacity with Manish Tuli,” said the statement.

Agarwal and Tuli were arrested last wee for allegedly paying civic engineers of North Delhi Municipal Corporation a bribe of Rs 30 lakh to get clearance for the construction of a banquet hall. 

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The two civic engineers, identified as Naresh Kumar and Satish Kumar, who were allegedly accepting bribes on behalf of corporation engineers were also arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Agarwal and Tuli were in talks to build a banquet hall in the Wazirpur Industrial Area but the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had been demanding around Rs 50 lakh as bribe to clear its construction. Following negotiations, Rs 30 lakh was agreed upon as the bribe.

At the time of the arrests, CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra confirmed, “We have arrested five persons so far including Agarwal and Tuli. Further investigations are on.” 

The CBI examined documents seized during the raid carried out during the investigation to ascertain if Micromax had paid any bribes in the past and all the five put under arrest will be produced before a special CBI court on Thursday.