Almost a couple of months after the CBI arrested Mahesh Kumar in the `10 crore railway bribery scam, the Railway Ministry is yet to give sanction to prosecute Kumar.
The CBI has finalised its chargesheet in the case and has sent its file to the Directorate of Prosecution seeking legal opinion on the evidence gathered and charges levelled against the accused.
On May 3, the CBI arrested former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla while accepting a part payment of bribe amount of `90 lakh sent by ‘associates of Kumar to get him transferred from Member (Staff), Railway Board to Member (Electrical) Board.
It is alleged that Singla had demanded `10 crore to get Mahesh Kumar transferred.
In its chargesheet, the CBI would name Kumar, Singla and Bangalore based railway equipment supplier Manjunath, who arranged the bribe money.
It is reported that Bansal may not be named as an accused in the first chargesheet, which may be filed after July 3. But the investigating agency is likely to keep the probe open.
Hence, if the agency finds evidence showing involvement of some more persons in connection with the case, they may be booked in the future, and a supplementary chargesheet would be filed.
After Bansal’s nephew Singla was arrested in the bribery scam, Bansal maintained that he had no knowledge of Singla’s dealings.