ESSAR oil duty evasion: CBI gets HC nod for further probe
In a major setback to ESSAR Oil Ltd,the Gujarat High Court has dismissed its petition and allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation...
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In a major setback to ESSAR Oil Ltd (EOL),the Gujarat High Court has dismissed its petition and allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to further investigate the case of criminal conspiracy,fraud and cheating registered against Chief Executive Officer Shishir Agarwal and vice-president P R Ashok. Some Customs and bank officials are also party to the alleged crime.
According to the details of the case,ESSAR is accused of evading customs duty of over Rs 36 crore in 1999. The company and its officials had allegedly hatched a conspiracy with Customs officials and paid only Rs 60 crore against a duty of Rs 96 crore.
The then Commissioner of Central Excise and Customs,M K Bhada,was one of the accused in the case along with some officials of the State Bank of Saurashtra. The CBI had booked the accused under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In 2002,the Customs commissioner had ordered recovery of the duty from EOL and imposed a penalty of Rs 10 crore on the company. He had also ordered the confiscation of EOLs goods worth Rs 600 crore. The company challenged this before the Central Excise & Gold Appellate Tribunal,Mumbai (CEGAT),which gave it a clean chit. The tribunals order was later challenged in the Supreme Court,which upheld the order of the Commissioner of Customs in 2004.
Meanwhile,the CBI filed a closure report in a Special CBI Court in Ahmedabad. But with the Supreme Court passing an order on the CEGAT judgement,CBI officials,under pressure from the Chief Vigilance Commissioner,approached the Special CBI Court in Ahmedabad praying to allow them to further investigate the matter.
The court lambasted the investigating agency and dismissed their application.
But it also observed that it is not precluded from further probe in the matter. Following this,CBI officials issued notices to EOL officials and others for further probe in the case,which EOL challenged in the High Court.
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