The CBI claims it has proof of “huge” bribes being paid by Nanda to Verma, that there was indication of the I-T official going to Goa to check on properties which were to be bought for him by the arms dealer. According to the CBI, Verma “manipulated” the Nanda file by defacing and ignoring crucial entries from the final appraisal report which the I-T department had worked on after raids on the arms dealer last year.

“We expect that the voluminous details of bank deposits and hawala transactions available with the Income Tax department will have a bearing on our ongoing investigations into the Barak and the ARV deals. After these arrests, we have seized all files of Suresh Nanda from the office of Ashutosh Verma. We should be able to use both the recovered documents and the I-T papers in our case,” a CBI official said.

Top officials in the Income Tax (Investigations) unit, meanwhile, said they were “taken aback” by the developments and said that Nanda’s appraisal report had already moved to the department’s assessment wing. “A lot of details in the case have already been shared by us with the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate and even in this case of alleged bribery, we will give the CBI all possible help,” an I-T official said.

While the CBI searched the residences and offices of several Defence dealers, including Suresh Nanda, in October 2006, the Income Tax department conducted their own searches in February 2007. When Nanda challenged the impounding of his passport in the Supreme Court, the CBI was forced to disclose the magnitude of the case and the extent of its investigation. The CBI informed the court that an amount of Rs 543 crore had been deposited into Nanda’s bank accounts between 1995 and 2001 and that the Interpol too had confirmed the receipt of Rs 400 crore in his accounts soon after the Barak deal was signed.

... contd.