A Delhi court has ordered framing of charges against a suspended Petroleum Ministry’s official for allegedly amassing assets exceeding his legal income by conniving with dealers in selling adulterated petroleum products.
Finding a prima facie case against suspended Joint Director (Investigation) Uday Shankar of the Anti-adulteration Cell in the Ministry of Petroleum, Special CBI Judge Rakesh Syal ordered framing of charges under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.
“…Prima-facie, there are grounds for presuming that accused Shankar, a public servant has committed criminal misconduct i.E. On May 21, 2004, he and his family members were in possession of assets in their names as well as benami, to the tune of Rs 1.11 crore, disproportionate to his and his family’s known sources of income, for which he could not satisfactorily account.
“Thus, a prima-facie case under Section 13 (2) read with Section 13 (1) (e) of the PC Act is made out against accused Shankar,” the court said.
The judge also ordered framing of charges against his alleged accomplice Sanjeev Kumar, saying prima facie it appeared that he was actively involved with Shankar in various monetary transactions and acquiring movable and immovable properties on his behalf, during his tenure in the office from 1998 to 2004.
“He (Sanjeev) abetted Shankar in acquisition of assets disproportionate to his known resources of income. Therefore, prima-facie, a case under Section 109 IPC read with 13 (2) read with Section 13 (1) (e) of the PC Act is made out against accused Sanjeev,” it said.
