New Delhi: The corruption case against an Indian Army Colonel arrested in May goes far beyond a Rs 50 lakh bribe that led to his arrest, with the officer having a track record of taking “undue advantage” of contractors through luxury hotel bookings, air tickets and hospitality expenses, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told a Delhi court last week.
Himanshu Bali was posted in the Ordnance Branch of the Indian Army’s Eastern Command, which plays a key role in supplying weapons and ammunition to the Eastern sector. He allegedly manipulated tenders and approved substandard samples in lieu of bribes from a Kanpur-based defence supplier.
Opposing Bali’s plea seeking bail, the CBI told the Special Court that it had “genuine apprehension” that he would flee to a country that does not have an extradition treaty or a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with India if he were released on bail. The agency added that granting bail at this stage would completely derail the investigation.
The CBI had arrested Bali in Kolkata in May after it intercepted an exchange of bribes at Delhi’s Chandni Chowk between his aide and an employee of Kanpur-based businessman Akshat Aggarwal and his son, Mayank Aggarwal.
According to the CBI, Bali was closely associated with tender proceedings for works awarded to Aggarwals’ firm, Eastern Global Ltd.
The agency allegedly found in its probe that the Rs 50 lakh bribe was the first instalment of a Rs 3 crore bribe sought by Bali for awarding a Rs 13.41-crore contract to upgrade 7,460 iron boxes of ammunition in April this year.
According to the CBI, the Ordnance Branch of Eastern Command, Kolkata, where Bali was posted, was responsible for executing and finalising the tender, and Bali was the competent authority to approve the deal.
“The illicit gratification in the present case extends far beyond the recovered bribe amount of Rs 50 lakh. The investigation has unearthed conclusive material establishing that the accused, Col Himanshu Bali, systematically obtained additional continuous ‘undue advantage’ from the co-accused contractors,” the CBI told the special CBI court in Delhi.
“This was extended in the form of luxury hotel bookings, air tickets, and hospitality expenses, all funded by the contractors. These transactions clearly demonstrate a deep-rooted, corrupt nexus and a direct quid pro quo wherein the accused bartered his official position and compromised the integrity of the tendering process in exchange for personal luxuries,” it added.
The CBI said the accused had “grossly abused his official position for personal enrichment”, bringing “severe disrepute to the unblemished image of the Armed Forces” and “profoundly shattered the faith of the general public in the transparency of public procurement and national institutions”.
Bali’s legal counsel, comprising advocates Harsh K Sharma, Vaibhavi Sharma, and Lakshya Parasher, argued before the court that he was falsely implicated.
“The FIR, registered solely on source information, alleges that the cash was to be delivered by Ashutosh Shukla to Naresh Pal. However, the subsequent police custody and judicial remand applications materially alter the prosecution’s case by claiming recovery of Rs 50 lakh from the residence of Mr Yash Gupta. Publicly available information establishes that Mr Gupta is an established businessman with substantial commercial interests, making possession of such cash consistent with his financial capacity and rendering the prosecution’s allegation that the amount was intended for the applicant wholly unsubstantiated,” Bali’s legal team said in a statement to ThePrint.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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3 crore bribe for 13.5 crore tender ! That is almost 25% of value going to a single person ! Very serious allegations