Rs 50 enough to make a CBI case,Rs 42 cr not too big to close one

The RTI application was filed by Guninder Gill,who received the information from over 50 CBI units across the country,prior to the agency getting an exemption under the Act. She filed the RTI application after her own case of forgery and cheating against Deutsche Bank was closed by the CBI.

The RTI reply reveals details of cases closed by the CBI between 2005 and 2010. And it shows that chargesheets are routinely filed by the agency in cases where the fraud amount is very small while a disproportionate number of high-value cases are closed by it citing lack of evidence. Of course,several units have also chargesheeted cases which involve a much higher amount of money than those closed.

Asked about the RTI reply,the CBI told The Indian Express: “It would not be correct to conclude on the basis of a few cases that the CBI is wasting its time and resources in registering and investigating low-value cases. On the contrary,the CBI has chargesheeted a large number of important cases involving not only huge amounts but also persons holding high positions during the period.”

The agency listed 76 “important” cases which had been chargesheeted by them between 2005-2010. “Of the approximately 1,000 cases in which investigations are finalised every year,” the CBI clarified,“roughly 80 per cent are chargesheeted and approximately 10 per cent sent for departmental action. In the remaining 10 per cent,no prosecution/departmental action is recommended for want of sufficient evidence… The outcome of the investigation is decided on merit… and it would not be prudent to generalise and draw a conclusion for the entire organisation.”

The RTI reply shows that the CBI’s Mumbai unit filed a chargesheet in a case involving Rs 50 just recently. In case of some other chargesheets,the amounts range from Rs 100 to Rs 200 and Rs 250. On the other hand,the quantum of sums involved in some cases closed by the CBI were Rs 76 lakh,Rs 58 lakh and Rs 41 lakh — apart from some cases involving Rs 500 and Rs 2,000. The largest sum involved in a chargesheet filed by the unit was Rs 27.58 crore.

The CBI’s Nagpur unit has chargesheeted cases for Rs 50,Rs 200,Rs 500 and Rs 700; and closed cases where the quantum was Rs 7.12 crore and Rs 1.51 crore. The highest value of cases chargesheeted by the CBI here was Rs 9.3 crore.

In the CBI’s Patna unit,chargesheets have been filed for Rs 300,Rs 400,Rs 415; in Dhanbad for Rs 100,Rs 150,Rs 400; in Hyderabad for Rs 500,Rs 700 and Rs 1,000; Goa for Rs 100 and Rs 150; and Jabalpur for Rs 70 and Rs 800.

The Dhanbad unit has listed “closed’’ against all the 14 cases they investigated,while Chandigarh and Jodhpur closed one-third of the cases they registered. The units which have the best track record in terms of cases chargesheeted are Kolkata’s bank securities and frauds unit,Delhi’s anti-corruption unit and Manipur.