India News
Delhi High Court for faster probe in Maneka Gandhi case
By IANS
Feb 1, 2007, 22:06 GMT

New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS) Delhi High Court Thursday gave the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) an eight-week deadline to wind up its ongoing probe into the corruption case involving alleged misuse of her official position by former central minister Maneka Gandhi.

Peeved at the snail-paced investigation into the case, Justice T.S. Thakur asked the agency to expedite the probe and file the charge sheet within eight weeks if there was any evidence.

Justice Thakur issued the directions while disposing off a petition by one V.M. Singh for expeditious probe into the case against Maneka Gandhi and her sister.

The agency told the court it had registered two cases against two non-governmental organizations including one run by Maneka Gandhi's sister for alleged misuse of government funds.

In a status report, the CBI had said the criminal complaints had been registered against the functionaries of the voluntary agencies under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption act.

The cases had been lodged against Gandhi Rural Welfare Trust (GRWT) and Alp Sankhyak Sikhya Kalyan Samiti for alleged misuse of funds sanctioned to carry out voluntary works in Maneka Gandhi's constituency Pilibhit.

The court had earlier directed the ministry of social justice and empowerment to initiate action against other NGOs, which were also sanctioned money.

In October 2005, the court had directed the CBI to probe the alleged allotment of government funds by Gandhi during her tenure as minister of state for social justice and empowerment to various voluntary agencies including her sister's Gandhi Rural Welfare Trust (GRWT) in 2001.

The petitioner had alleged that Gandhi had 'misused her official position to ensure wrongful gains to those close to her, including her officer on special duty (OSD), party workers or her real sister (Ambika Shukla).'

'About 40 trusts in her parliamentary constituency Pilibhit were created with her blessings with clear intentions to cheat the exchequer,' said the petition.

Gandhi had allegedly presided over a meeting on January 11, 2001 and sanctioned Rs 5 million for the construction of a nursing college building at Pilibhit by the Gandhi Rural Welfare Trust of her sister.

The petition alleged that funds, meant for the NGOs working for the uplift of the weaker sections of the society, were misused in violation of the rules. It claimed that 'fake' NGOs were set up circumventing rules in order to obtain funds.

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service