The allegation is that corrupt individuals, from 2011 to 2017, in connivance with some BEL officials, siphoned off money that was allotted by Government of India to build IACCS sites.
The probe into the Rs 7,900 crore Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) scam, in which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed an FIR on 7 December 2022, has seemingly reached a dead end.
Of the 13 named accused in the case, that included six government officials who were associated with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a public sector undertaking under the control of the Ministry of Defence, one has died while two of these six have either left BEL or retired. Of the remaining three, they have never been called for their statement to the CBI office.
People aware of the matter told The Sunday Guardian that a few influential political entities based in Uttar Pradesh may have played a key role in seeking to derail the entire investigation, despite the alleged corruption taking place while building assets that are critical to India’s strategic need.
Initially the case was being investigated by CBI officer, Amit Kumar Wanger but soon it was taken away from him. Thereafter there was a slowing down of progress, which is now at a standstill according to sources keeping in touch with developments.
As per the CBI’s allegations, corruption was allegedly done by government individuals and private entities while executing construction at ten sites, including underground sites, across India that would house infrastructure and men as a part of the strategic Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS).
The allegation is that allegedly corrupt individuals, from 2011 to 2017, in connivance with some BEL officials, siphoned off money that was allotted by Government of India (GOI) to build the IACCS sites.
The named government officials in this case were Sunil Kumar Sharma, who was the General Manager (GM) and CMD, Network Centring System (NCS) with BEL and was working in a private defence company after retiring from BEL, R.K. Handa, former GM, NCS, BEL, S.S. Chowdhary the then Senior DGM (Marketing-NCS), Gurjit Singh, former Senior DGM (NCS), B.P. Pahuja the then AGM (Infra-NCS), BEL and Manish Goyal, the then Manager (Infra) who was working as DGM (Infra-NCS), BEL, Ghaziabad when the FIR was registered.
Of this, Sunil Kumar Sharma, who was listed as accused number 1 in the FIR passed away on 18 December last year without any interrogation or questioning.
Similarly, B.P. Pahuja, listed as accused number 5, retired from Bangalore as General Manager on 31 December 2023 with all the retirement benefits and dues being given to him.
Manish Goyal, who was listed as accused number 6 in the FIR, and was alleged to have played a key role in the construction related irregularities was made to resign in July 2023 and was relieved from services with full retirement benefits and dues.
The alleged corruption in this matter was first revealed in July 2018, after the Chief Vigilance Officer of BEL started an investigation in the matter. The investigation was led by Man Mohan Pandey, General Manager, which was in continuance of a factual inquiry that was conducted earlier by Arun Raheja, Assistant General Manager. The more than 100-page report prepared by Pandey had detailed how some BEL officials “bypassed every rule that is in place” to ensure that the contract of building the said IACCS sites went to a private company, RD Konsultants. Soon, Pandey, R.K. Goyal, Senior Deputy General Manager (Vigilance), and Sumit Krishna, Manager (Product Support), who were a part of the investigation committee, were suspended by BEL on disciplinary charges on 17 May 2019.
Devoid of any financial assistance after spending all their money in fighting a legal case seeking reinstatement, the three individuals, who sources claim were just doing their duty, are now struggling to manage the needs of their families. All hopes for justice by those affected by the delayed probe are based on the Zero Tolerance policy towards corruption that has been assured by the Union Government.