CHENNAI: At times, crime thrives right under the nose of law. The Madras High Court on Friday ordered a CB-CID probe after it was found that 100kg of gold had gone missing from CBI custody. The crime was noticed after the vault, supposed to contain 400kg of the yellow metal, that was seized by the central agency from a private importer in 2012, was opened.
The court wondered why the CBI should not be booked for theft. The National Company Law Tribunal in 2019 had ordered the CBI to hand over the gold bullion to the liquidator of the company, so that the proceeds can be distributed among banks that lent money to the company. However, when the vault was opened, only 296kg gold was found in it as against the original 400 kg.
The CBI could not account for the remaining 103.864 kgs. “The difference is not a few grams... it’s a whopping 1 lakh grams,” observed the court. Comparing it to narcotics laws, the court pointed out that in such cases the quantum of punishment is directly proportional to the quant i ty of the contraband. The CBI in its defense said, that while handing over the gold to the liquidator, it was weighed individually and that was the reason for the discrepancy.
However, Justice PN Prakash refused to accept this submission. Though the Special Public Prosecutor of the CBI contended that the prestige of the CBI would come down if the investigation is done by the local police, Justice PN Prakash in his order observed that “... the law does not sanction such an inference.
All policemen have to be trusted and it does not lie in the mouth of one to say that the CBI has special horns, whereas, the local police have only a tail.” In 2012, the search was conducted in the office of Surana Corporation Limited in Chennai on a corruption case registered against the company and officials of MMTC.
Flashback: How 400kg gold came into CBI custody
THE primary allegation was that MMTC had shown undue favour to Surana for importing gold and silver.
The chronology of events
As many as 400.47 kgs of gold in the form of bullions and ornaments were seized. The seized gold was kept in the lockers and vaults of Surana under the seal of CBI. The CBI in its arguments said that they handed over the 72 keys of the vaults to the Chennai principal special court for CBI cases.
In 2013, CBI filed a closure report, holding that the accused had not committed any offence and has only violated certain circulars, for which departmental action was recommended against the officials. During the hearing, the CBI requested the special court to transfer the gold to the office of the director-general of foreign trade (DGFT). However, Surana, challenged the transfer of gold.
In the meantime, insolvency proceedings were initiated by SBI against Surana for pending dues of Rs 1,160 crore and the bank moved the court seeking the gold in order to resolve the dues from the company. On December 12, 2017, SBI and Surana filed a compromise memo in the court and sought a direction to hand over the gold to SBI, which was opposed by the CBI.
On July 16, 2019, the court directed the parties to approach the National Company Law Tribunal before and CBI was directed to hand over the possession of the gold to SBI. On December 27, 2019, the NCLT ordered to hand over of the gold to the official liquidator in the presence of SBI.
The gold googly
The court also in its order brought out possibilities on the missing gold that required investigation, “... the CBI officials, in collusion, with the panchas and others, may have illegally dealt with the gold while maintaining the weight as 400 kg. In the seizure mahazar as a shortfall therein would have made Surana cry foul. Secondly, the CBI officials in collusion with Surana and others, may have permitted Surana to deal with 100 and odd kgs after effecting the seizure.”
‘72 keys handed over to principal special court’
Over 400 kg of gold in the form of bullions and ornaments were seized. It was kept in the lockers and vaults of Surana under the seal of CBI. The CBI, in its arguments, said it handed over 72 keys of the vaults to the Chennai principal special court for CBI cases