Closing In?

So far, the CBI has filed chargesheets against only a dozen bureaucrats. Political beneficiaries of large pay-offs by Bhilai industrialist S.K. Jain have been treated lightly. Now, with the Supreme Court continuing to apply relentless pressure, the Bureau is making tentative moves to book the politicians. On the hit list are former Union minister Arif Mohammad Khan and Pradeep Kumar, a grandson of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal. However, in Devi Lal's case, although the report of the investigating officer (IO) categorically stated that there was strong incriminating evidence, senior CBI officials are reluctant to press charges against him.

Devi Lal is alleged to have received Rs 50 lakh from Jain. The investigations have found that his grandson had received cash and two imported cars from the Jains. The CBI officials also broke a bank locker in the name of Kumar's wife and seized ornaments worth lakhs. The officials point out that Kumar received the money when he was additional private secretary to Devi Lal.

While the buzz is that the charges against Devi Lal have not been cleared because it is still stuck with the PMO, CBI officials say this could have something to do with the current fluid political climate in the country. With so much talk about the possibility of a hung Parliament after the general elections, every major politician is a potential ally, it is pointed out.

But the CBI top brass still has a problem. The IO has refused to dilute his report against the former deputy prime minister. All that the CBI officials are willing to say on record is that the "evidence against Devi Lal is being weighed by legal experts".

Meanwhile, the CBI sleuths claim they have clinching evidence against Arif Mohammad Khan. Says an official: "We have unearthed Khan's property, some of it benami, worth about Rs 4.5 crore. And the entries in Jain's diary show Rs 7.5 crore against Khan's name. It's a major achievement." CBI sources say Khan purchased four flats under different names in Mayfair Garden, a house in his wife Reshma's name at Bulandshahr (for Rs 3 lakh) and a piece of land in Reshma's name at Bugrari, Ghaziabad.

Apart from this, Khan is alleged to have 30 benami cars, some of them imported. The payment for these, according to the CBI, was made through bank drafts. A locker was broken by the CBI and jewellery worth about Rs 89 lakhwas recovered. According to the chargesheet, which is being given final touches, Khan as minister of power received money from the Alsthom company for awarding it the Kawas power project contract. And Jain was the middleman.

Khan, however, is understood to have written to Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao last week, daring the Government to prosecute him. Khan has all along been maintaining that he has been dragged into the case courtesy godman Chandraswami.

The former minister may be an easy target to nail, but when it comes to other politicians—both from the ruling party and the Opposition—CBI officials have been asked to go slow. Last week officials tried to quiz two top politicians and were shooed away by one of them.

Sources confirm that Union Petroleum Minister Captain Satish Sharma was interrogated by a DIG and an SP with the CBI a few days ago. He apparently denied having received any money. The main charge against Sharma was that he worked as a conduit between Jain and Rajiv Gandhi. Similarly, when officials went to question Union Civil Supplies Minister Kalpnath Rai, they were turned away angrily. Rai immediately shot off a hard-hitting letter to CBI Director K. Vijaya Rama Rao, telling him not to transgress his limits. Two Union ministers, Balram Jakhar and Madhav Rao Scindia, whose names figure in the incriminating diary, have vehemently objected to CBI questioning.

In another development, the investigations against Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs V.C. Shukla have been halted. The team which had gone to Raipur, Madhya Pradesh, (Shukla's constituency) has been called back.

Notwithstanding efforts to nail a fewfringe politicians, the CBI is indeed in a Catch-22 situation. On the one hand, it is tied in knots in the hawala case because of the constant Supreme Court monitoring. On the other hand, with the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the task of booking any heavyweight politician is difficult.