Were CBI sleuths given gifts?

Diwali and New Year gifts for CBI officers!

This is not being ruled out after the CBI stumbled on entries in account ledgers of a private steel manufacturer allegedly mentioning figures of Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 against the name of the probe agency.

CBI sources said today an internal probe has begun to ascertain whether any officer had accepted gifts from the Ispat Industries Limited or whether these were dummy entries.

The Income Tax department had seized account ledgers from the Delhi office of the steel manufacturer in 2010 and during its scrutiny, it was found there were entries of alleged payments against the column where several PSUs were mentioned.

The Income Tax department had sent the documents to Chief Vigilance Officers of all those PSUs to initiate a probe but handed over the documents to the CBI only recently.

"In the Miscellaneous Entries section, there was mention of alleged payments of Rs 7,000 or Rs 8,000 to CBI, ED(Enforcement Directorate) and CVC(Central Vigilance Commission). The corresponding dates where either close to Diwali or New Year," an official said.

The amount could have been possiby used for purchase of dry fruits and small gifts for some officials, the sources said, adding there is no case against Ispat in this regard.

The CBI sources made it clear that the agency was not probing any other payments mentioned in the Ispat ledger.

The company has denied any wrongdoing and claimed to "follow best corporate practices... we always work as per the law of the land."

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