Whistleblower CBI officer retired compulsorily

New Delhi: A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) rank officer with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been compulsorily retired from service under 56(j) on 6 January, just days after he flagged off an alleged corruption in Railtel, a PSU under the Railway ministry.
Namo Prakash Mishra was handed over the retirement order on 6 January along with a “severance” package of three months. The timing of the termination from service of Mishra has raised questions, as Mishra had in September last year, filed a written complaint with the CBI informing the agency of an alleged financial malpractice indulged in by top officers of RailTel, a public sector undertaking (PSU) under the Indian Railways. The malpractices, as per the complaint, was being done so that “favoured” vendors could get high value government contracts. Apart from the CBI, Mishra had shared the complaint with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Chief Vigilance Commission (CVC) and with the Railway Ministry. The Sunday Guardian had written on the alleged instances of financial irregularities that Mishra had apprised the CBI and the PMO about in its 25 December edition. (Rail ministry probing ‘irregularities’ in RailTel contracts). Mishra was handed over the retirement order 11 days later. The Sunday’s Guardian email to CBI spokesperson on the matter, including seeking the reasons for compulsorily retiring Mishra and whether he faced any disciplinary or vigilance inquiry, elicited no response till the time the story went to press.
Incidentally, it was due to inputs generated by Mishra, that he had shared with the Income Tax department (New Delhi) and Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Mumbai, in August 2021 that the Mumbai zonal unit arrested an individual, Santosh Doshi and busted an Input Tax Credit (ITC) refund fraud case.
Doshi was using seven companies and had fraudulently availed ITC to the tune of Rs 118 crore. Doshi had created a number of dummy companies that were registered in Jharkhand and West Bengal and used them to deceive the government of this large amount. Mishra had, in the past, also apprised the agency of how CBI constables were working as house help at the residence of former CBI Directors and other top officers. This had led to the agency calling back these constables to the CBI headquarters.