Bansal drove down to the Prime Minister's official residence and was closeted with him for about 20 minutes.
The
meeting comes in the wake of the arrest of Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla
by the CBI in connection with alleged bribery of Rs 90 lakh for fixing a
top level position in the government.
Singla was arrested in Chandigarh
for allegedly accepting Rs 90 lakh in cash from Manjunath, the conduit
of Mahesh Kumar, recently promoted as Member (Staff), Railway Board.
Kumar was allegedly trying to get a lucrative position as Member
(Electrical), Railway Board.
Earlier in the day, Bansal had issued a statement distancing himself from the incident involving his nephew.
"Though
a close relative, he or any other relative of mine does not and cannot
meddle in my official function or influence my decision. There is also
no business relationship between his and my family," he had said in the
statement.
Meanwhile,
distancing himself from his nephew arrested by CBI in a case of bribery
for allegedly fixing a top level position in Railway Board, Railway
Minister P K Bansal said that he had no business links with him and
denied any wrongdoing.
In
a statement, 64-year-old Bansal, who was made Railway Minister in
October last year, claimed he has always observed highest standards of
probity in public life and that nobody can influence his decisions.
He
also sought an expeditious CBI inquiry into the issue. "Regarding
yesterday's incident involving my sister's firm in a CBI raid at Chandigarh, I have to say that I have no knowledge or proof about the matter at all.
Though
a close relative, he or any other relative of mine does not and cannot
meddle in my official function or influence my decision. There is also
no business relationship between his and my family.
"I
have always observed highest standard of probity in public life and
look forward to an expeditious investigation by CBI in the matter", he
said in the statement on Saturday.
Bansal's
nephew V Singla was on Friday arrested by the CBI, which also held a
Member of the Railway Board in connection with alleged bribery of Rs.90
lakh for fixing a top level position in the government.
Singla was arrested in Chandigarh
for allegedly accepting Rs.90 lakh in cash from Manjunath, the conduit
of Mahesh Kumar, recently promoted as Member (Staff) and trying to get a
lucrative position as Member (Electrical).
Kumar was arrested in Mumbai by a CBI team soon after he had flown in from Delhi.
CBI has registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC against him.
The other person arrested by the CBI was Sandip Goyal, who allegedly assisted in brokering the deal.
Kumar
was General Manager (Western railways) and promoted recently as Member
Railway Board, a post equivalent to Secretary in Government of India.
The Railway Minister, however, has not yet ordered any departmental inquiry into the matter.
The
Railway Board had recently appointed Subodh Jain as Member
(Engineering), Mahesh Kumar as Member (Staff) and Arunendra Kumar as
Member (Mechanical). The post of Member (Traffic) is yet to be filled
up.
The
chairman of Railway Board is retiring in June along with the Finance
Commissioner and the entire Railway Board is expected to see new faces.
Congress brushes aside demands for Bansal's resignation
Congress
on Saturday brushed aside demands for Railway Minister P K Bansal's
resignation saying it has become a disease of the Opposition to make
such demands.
"For
those who are demanding resignation, it has become a disease," Congress
General Secretary and head of media department Janardan Dwivedi told
reporters in New Delhi on Saturday.
He
said Bansal has himself given a clarification demanding probe in the
wake of the arrest of his nephew for allegedly fixing top level
promotions in the Railway Board.
"The
Railway Minister himself has given a clarification and said that there
should be a thorough probe into the matter. I don't think we can expect
any thing more from him," Dwivedi said in a brief reaction to the
developments surrounding Bansal.
BJP
has demanded the sacking of the railway minister and CBI prosecution
against him with party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad saying that seeking
pecuniary advantage by someone close to the Railway minister and abusing
the authority of the minister is a "copybook case" of prosecution of
Bansal.
CPI(M) also has demanded his resignation.
The
Minister's nephew V Singla was on Friday arrested by the CBI in
connection with alleged bribery of Rs 90 lakh for fixing a top level
position in the government.
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