Railway Bribery scam: Bansal meets PM

Railway Min Pawan Kumar Bansal on Saturday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the wake of CBI arresting his nephew on bribery charges, a sullen looking Bansal drove away from the Prime Minister's residence without speaking to reporters.

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.

Bansal, however, has distanced himself from his nephew, saying he had no business links with him and denied any wrongdoing.