Scams and Scandals during the Congress rule since Independence

Introduction:

Congress is synonymous of corruption and Mahatma Gandhi knew power will corrupt

congressmen and had advised them to close down the party.

Corruption like water flows from top to bottom, it degenerates the entire system.

We have tried to list few major scams and scandals under Congress rule right from days of

Nehru.

1. Congress Minister received bribe and Sardar Patel, then

union Home Minister had ordered arrest of a minister of

state for demanding and receiving a bribe.

2. First Finance Minister resigned. Why?

Independent India’s first finance minister, R.K. Shanmukham Chetty

resigned for deleting the names of the companies (close to congress)

from a list of companies to be investigated for tax evasion.

3. Keshav Dev Malviya had to quit. Why?

Keshav Dev Malviya had to quit after it was discovered

that he received bribe from dubious mine owners in Orissa.

4.Jeep Scam in 1947?

When Pakistan attacked Kashmir, .K. Krishna Menon, India’s High Commissioner

to Britain, placed hefty order on dubious company of 4603 jeeps which were of

poor quality and had landed long after the ceasefire had been signed.

Ananthasayanam Iyengar Committee submitted its report in 1951, which indicted

Krishna Menon. Instead of taking any action Nehru appointed him a Cabinet

Minister without portfolio and later as defense Minister.

5. Gems Graft in 1949

Rao Shiv Bahadur Singh, Industry Minister was caught

finding bribe of Rs.25000 for renewing a gem’s trader

lease on Panna Diamond mines.

6. Cycle part Racket in 1951

Union Industry and commerce Secretary S.A Venkatraman

awarded entire import quota for cycle parts to single

company with dubious record on instructions of his bosses

in the cabinet. He was sentenced three years imprisonment.

7. The Mundhra Rip-off in 1957Kanpur entrepreneur Haridas Mundhra made LIC lend him Rs. 1 Crore, pick up

shares in his firms to boost their prices due to his proximity with then Finance

Minister. Both were found guilty and T.T. Krishnamachari then Finance minister

tendered his resignation, but later on Nehru personally gave him clean chit and

brought him back in cabinet.

8. The Teja Caper in 1962Jayanti Dharma Teja set up a shipping company with paid up capital

less than 200 and a Rs. 22 Crore government loan due to his

proximity to Nehru. Advance payment from customers went to his

Liechtenstein bank account and he siphoned off entire money. He

was arrested in 1970 in London and sentenced to six years, but

escaped from custody and his whereabouts are still not known.

9. Kairon indicted by Daas commission in 1964

Kairon a close confidant of Nehru was inducted by Dass

Commission for allowing family members to amass wealth

through dubious ways, he was not arrested and on public

pressure was just made to resign.

We have discussed Nehru Era and Now we shall discuss

Indira Era which broke all previous records.

10. The Nagarwala Scam in 1971

Former Army officer Rustom Sohrab Nagarwala was accussed of calling up state bank of

India’s cashier faking Indira Gandhi’s voice & withdrawing Rs. 60 Lacks from the bank.

Nagarwala who was arrested died in police custody The episode remains a mystery & no

enquiry was ordered in spite of seriousness of the issue.

11. Tul Mohan Ram Con in 1974Pondicherry merchants submitted a petition with forged signatures of 21 MP’s to

the Union Commerce Ministry seeking import licenses. The alleged forger was Tul

Mohan Ram, MP working at the behest of Indira Gandhi’s closed aide Lalit

Narayan Mishra. Mishra died in Samastipur bomb blast in1975 and since

emergency was imposed, issue was quietly buried.

12. Alleged use on animal tallow in DaldaThe people of India were shocked when they came to know alleged

use of animal tallow in Dalda. Several cases were instituted against

the perpetrators of this heinous crime but to their closeness with

Indira Gandhi they were set free.

13. The Cement ScamIn the cement scam A.R Antulay, the then CM of Maharashtra, had

allegedly collected Crore of rupees in the name of fictitious trusts

involving the name of Indira Gandhi. Ultimately he was acquitted

due to his closeness with Mrs. Gandhi.

14. The Coal Scam of 80sThis was one of the biggest scam since Independence which included N.D Tiwari,

A.B.A Ghani Khan Chowdhury, Z.R. Ansari ran coal mafia with the active

connivance of cabinet. They funneled off high grade coal from the collieries of

public sector Coal India, with 2 Crore exchanging hands everyday said Coal India

Chairman and MD B.L Wadhera.

15. Bundles of Scams and scandals one after the othera) Kuo Oil Deal

b) Tripude marks Scams

c) Westland Helicopters scandal

d) Kosi Project Scandal

e) Maruti Scam

f) Fraud in Food Corporation of India

g) Vasantrao Naik’s land reclamation Scam

Now we shall discuss post Indira Scams

16. The Jaguar Deal- Bribe of 118 CroresWhen the order to buy planes from Jaguar was cancelled in favour of

Mirage, Jaguar had to pay 10% of the total cost of 1180 crores for

the reversal of Government’s decision.

17. The Submarine ScandalThe irregularities in the HWD submarine deal involved illegal pay

off of USD 30 million.

18. Rs. 64 Crore Bofors Bribe Scandal in 1986This is the scandal which lands right at the door steps of then PM Rajiv Gandhi

and first family of Congress. Congress party has tried all dirty tricks to cover up

this scam to save Sonia and her family members who are directly involved in this

scam. Sonia and Late Rajiv Gandhi had helped Italian businessman Quattrocchi in

receiving bribe in Bofors purchase and had also helped him in getting large

number of contracts in Power & fertilizers besides defense deal. Sonia was

instrumental in facilitating his escape from India.

19. The Securities Scam of Rs. 5000 Crore in 1992

According to Tribune dated 2,10,1997, the special court investigating into Rs.

5,000 Crore securities scandal of 1992 had approved the 34 charges submitted by

CBI against big bull, Harshad Mehta, two employees of Maruti Udyog and two of

ANZ Grindlays and UCO bank.

20. PSU Disinvestment of Rs. 3000 CrorePublic Accounts Committee had indicted the government on the disinvestment of

PSU. PSU suffered loss of 3000 Crore in the process.

21. Dhoti Scam of Rs. 200 Crore

22. Urea Scam of 133 CroreA.E Pinto, the London based Brazilian broker, who represented the Urea Scam

tainted Turkish Firm Karsan signed a deal with the Public sector National

Fertilizers Limited (NFL) in July 1995 for Urea Supply. Mr.Pinto is charged with

having received a total amount of 7 lakh US Dollars from Swiss bank accounts, in

which entire amount of 133 crore was paid in advance by NFL for the supply of

two lakh tonnes of Urea which never reached India. Prabakar Rao, Son of then PM

a congressman is main accused.

That’s what Congress

Knows Best

23. letter of Credit scam, of 240 Crore

24. Union Minister P.K Thungan fraudly encashed

bank draft of 9.98 Lakh.

25 Telecom Scam of 1.68 Crore

26. Oil Fields Scam of Rs. 5000 Crore

27. Rs. 5000 Crore Scam of Medical Equipments

Import

28. Stock Scam of Rs. 6,000 Crore

29. Rs. 5000 crore Scam of Railways Contracts

Then Railway Minister and Congress leader C.K. Jaffer

Sharief and other senior officers of ministry are involved

in an illegal gauge conversion contracts.

30. Rs. 400 Crore land scandal in Ranchi (Bihar)

31. CRB scam of 1000 crores

32. Congress government loaned Rs. 45000 Crore to black

listed companies. These companies were black listed by

RBI. (source free press journal 26.9.1996). Total of 3973

frauds were registered but nothing has moved since then.

33. Rs. 2000 Crore Nagaland Lottery Scandal

34. The Gold Star Securities Scam of 8000 Crores

35. The St. Kitts Scandal- Crime of forgery

36. JMM Case of Bribery

37. Shri Rao was accused of receiving 1 Crore

38. The Hawala Scandal

39. Petrol Pumps allotments to Kins of Rao

40. Sheila Kaul indicted in housing scam

Sheila Kaul was indicted in housing scam, when she was

urban development minister. She quit as Himachal Pradesh

Governor. The supreme court imposed exemplary fine of

Rs. 60 lakh as damages caused to the exchequer

41. Recovery of Crores of Rupees from Sukh Ram’s

House

Shri Sukh Ram was arrested after CBI raid on his house

led to recovery of crores of rupees, only to be let off later.

42. Madhav Singh Solanki Interference in Bofors Probe

43. Jagdish Tytler’s as surface transport minister, did

several undue favors to his close associate by illegally

allotting land worth of crores of Rupees belonging to

Bombay Port Trust.

Major Scams of North East

1. N C Hills Scam : Assam

2. Subsidy (Transport) Scam : Assam

3. Irrigation Scam :Assam

4. Guwahati Municipal Corporation Scam : Assam

5. Guwahati Urban Development (JNURM) Scam : Assam

6. Police Constable Recruitment Scam: Assam

7. Teachers Appointments Scam: Assam

8. National Highway Scam: Assam

9. PDS Scam of Rs 1000 crore: Assam

10. Flood Control Scam: Assam

11. Fake/Fraudulent payments scam, Assam

12. SGRY funds scam, Assam

13. NREGA funds misappropriation scam, Assam

14. Rural development fund embezzlement, Assam

15. Hydro Power Scam :Arunachal

16. SGRY Scam : Arunachal

17. PDS Scam of Rs 1000 Cr: Arunachal

18. Mines & Mineral Allotment Scam : Arunachal

19. Drinking Water Mission Scam: Arunachal

20. Hydro Power projects scam, Arunachal

21. PDS Scam, Arunachal

22. Public Private Partnership scam, Arunachal

23. NREGA scam, Arunachal

24. Siphoning of Entertainment Tax, Sikkim

25. Scam of Nayuma Cable (NC), Sikkim

26. Fraudulent fire to declare burning of 25,000 shows

meant for poor children, Sikkim

27. Smuggling of red sandalwood to China, Sikkim

28. Sikkim Power Development Corporation scam,

Sikkim

29. Ranka Tourist Villa Scam , Sikkim

30. Sikkim Khadi Board Fraud, Sikkim

31. Kanchandzonga Tourist Villa Scam, Sikkim

32. TB Medicine Scam, Sikkim

33. Fake / Stolen Bank deposits Scam, Sikkim

34. Rs.150Cr Fraudulent Bank deposit scam, Sikkim

35. Hydel power scam, Sikkim

36. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Scam, Sikkim

37. SGRY Scam, Sikkim

38. NREGA scam, Sikkim

39. Midday meal scam, Sikkim

40. PDS scam, Sikkim

41. Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran Scam, Sikkim

42. Loktak Lake Cleaning Scam: Manipur

43. Teachers Appointment Scam: Manipur

44. Road Construction Scam: Manipur

45. Big Dam / Irrigation Scam: Mizoram

46. Cement Land Scam: Meghalaya

47. North-East Subsidy Scam

48. AIBP scam, Nagaland

49. Rural Infrastructure Development Fund scam,

Nagaland

50. NREGA scam, Nagaland

Vision