NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday conducted searches at the premises of Arvind Mayaram, former finance secretary and current economic advisor to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, in Delhi and Jaipur following a recent FIR against him, alleging irregularities and corruption in the supply of exclusive colour shift security thread (CSST) for Indian bank notes from a UK-based company.
In the FIR dated January 10, 2023, the CBI said that Mayaram along with De La Rue International Ltd of the UK and unidentified officials of the finance ministry and RBI conspired and extended undue favours to the firm that supplied CSST for Indian currency notes.
The CBI said that prima facie discloses the commission of cognisable offence punishable under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with sections 13 (2) and 13(1)(d) of the Preventions of Corruptions Act on part of Arvind Mayaram, the then secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, officials of De la Rue International Ltd UK, unknown officials of RBI and Finance Ministry and others.
A preliminary enquiry pertaining to the case was registered in 2018 on a complaint from the Chief Vigilance Officer of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance.
The agency alleged that Mayaram as finance secretary illegally granted an extension of 3 years basis a contract which had expired with De la Rue International Ltd UK for supplying exclusive colour shift security thread without taking any mandatory security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Even the then finance minister was not kept in the loop the CBI alleged.
The CBI said in the complaint that the Government of India had entered into a five-year agreement with De La Rue International Ltd for the supply of exclusive CSST for Indian banknotes in 2004. The contract was extended four times till December 31, 2015.
The CBI also alleged that in the agreement with GoI, De la Rue specifically mentioned that the company had developed an exclusive India specific green to blue colour shift clear text MRT machine-readable security thread for use in Indian banknote paper as a security feature and for which the company holds exclusive manufacturing rights.
But the agency during the investigation found that the company had filed for a patent in India in the name of “A method for manufacturing a Substrate,” on June 28, 2004, which was published on March 13, 2009, and was granted on June 17, 2011. This implied that “at the time of their presentation in 2002 and their selection and signing of the agreement in 2004, the UK-based De la Rue did not have a valid patent,” the CBI alleged.