PMO denies details of graft complaints against mantris

New Delhi, Nov. 21: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has refused to share details of alleged corruption complaints received against Union ministers, saying providing such information “may be a subjective as well as a cumbersome exercise”.

The PMO’s assertion comes at a time when a senior officer in the country’s premier probe agency — Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) — has levelled corruption charge against Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary.

Replying to an RTI query, it said the PMO receives complaints against various Union ministers and high-level functionaries from time to time.

“These include pseudonymous and anonymous complaints. The complaints so received are duly examined keeping in view the veracity of the allegations/accusations and supporting documents in relation to these accusations,” the PMO said in reply to the RTI application filed by whistle blower bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturvedi.

Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Service officer, has exposed several corruption cases in the AIIMS when he was posted as the chief vigilance officer — which acts as a distant arm of the CVC to check corruption — during July 2012 to August 2014. In its reply to the RTI plea, the PMO said after taking the needful action, the records are not kept in one place and these are scattered across different sectors and units of this office. —PTI