NEW DELHI : Hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded a probe into "inappropriate" exemptions in the export of pulses, the Commerce Ministry said it had already asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to look into the matter on March 15.

In a letter to Prime Minister Mamohan Singh, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad pointed out that the Government had stated in the Rajya Sabha that export of pulses had been banned with effect from June 22 last year. However, a notification banning export of pulses was somewhat modified through another notification to say the prohibition on export of pulses would not be applicable for export of pulses against irrevocable letters of credit opened on or before June 22, 2006, when the Government's decision to ban exports had been widely publicised.

Mr. Prasad said he had information that "many letters of credit against unlimited quantity and period'' were opened by some exporters in the Channel Islands on or around June 21 and "illegal export had been facilitated under cover of those manipulated documents" despite the ban order. The other point made was that in the case of a ban on wheat exports the Government had given no exemption to exporters who had already opened letters of credit. Why the exemption for pulse exporters when the domestic prices were at an all-time high?

On the other hand, the Commerce Ministry said the allegations were not new and action was initiated after the Indore-based Association of Pulses Manufacturers-Exporters of India represented in February that pulses were being exported even after the ban. The matter was also raised by Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta at a press conference several weeks ago.

The Ministry ordered a probe by the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), which included findings of a preliminary investigation by the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). It suspected foul play by three exporters with the DRI finding two "abnormalities" in the documents — prima-facie manipulation of the expiry date and the abnormally similar price — and is conducting a detailed scrutiny of the documents of other exporters. Since the issue had wider ramifications, the DGFT suggested a detailed investigation and the Government informed the CBI on March 15, said the Ministry.

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