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Charge sheet filed against former Ordnance factory DG

KOLKATA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday filed a charge-sheet against a former Director General of Ordnance Factories and the Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board Kolkata, along with eleven others before a special CBI court on charges of bribery and criminal misconduct.

The DG, Sudipta Ghosh is accused of criminal conspiracy, habitual demand and acceptance of illegal gratification from various firms. While the others , including the former Additional General Manager (Sports) of Air India Ramesh Nambiar , the ex Statistical Investigator of the National Sample Survey Organisation J.K. Grover, and Ghosh's wife, Kajal Ghosh, are charged with criminal misconduct and abetment of the aforesaid offences.

According to CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal, the agency had lodged a complaint against Ghosh and the others in May 2009 alleging that Mr. Ghosh, during his tenure as the DG of Ordnance Factoriesfrom May 2007 to April 2009, had demanded and obtained illegal gratification through supply orders placed by Ordnance Factory Board with private manufacturers/suppliers including foreign onea, and was accused of conspiracy in matters relating to transfer of officers.

“Huge number of documents were seized and scrutinised and hundreds of witnesses were examined besides doing forensic examination of the seized articles by the investigation agency before it filed the 2700-page-charge sheet” Mr. Bhal told The Hindu.

He said that the case will come up for hearing before a Special Judge of the CBI Court on July 31, though investigations under Section 173 (8) of CrPC are still on.

Ghosh and the others were arrested and cash worth Rs. 1.41 crore was seized from Mr. Ghosh's residence and bank lockers. Cash was also recovered from the residence of the other accused.

Three separate cases of possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income were also registered against Ghosh, Nambiar and Grover.

A Letter Rogatory issued by the Special Court to the Central Authority in the Republic of Singapore for investigating into Ghosh's bank accountsis pending, the official added.

A “letter rogatory” is a formal communication in writing sent by the court to a foreign court or judge in which action is pending, requesting the testimony of a witness residing within the jurisdiction of that country's court.

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