Corrupt babus in PSUs sent to CBI

In a major attempt to stem corruption in public sector undertakings, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has asked chairmen and managing directors of Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), including navratnas and maharatnas, to hand over cases involving financial fraud to the CBI.

Giving instances of some CPSEs referring cases involving highvalue frauds to the local police, the CVC has instructed public sector undertakings to refer all incidents involving transactions above `25 lakh to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Expressing concern over the drastic fall in the number of cases of financial fraud being referred to the CBI by the PSUs, the anticorruption watchdog directed that the cases should be referred to the local police only if the CBI expresses its inability to investigate.

“The commission has, of late, observed that the number of cases/instances involving criminal misconduct, including financial irregularities and frauds detected in the CPSEs, being referred to the CBI for investigation are very few every year,” said a circular issued by Mr J. Vinod Kumar, officer on special duty, CVC.

The CVC has also asked chief vigilance officers of all CPSEs to interact with CBI personnel on a regular basis and share quarterly reports of their respective organisations with the CBI.