A CBI case that has lasted 30 years

The probe agencys oldest case is in the State; the accused is now 70

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took up a cheating case under the Prevention of Corruption Act in 1981 after the authorities of Canara Bank head office, Bangalore, alleged that two of its employees had swindled the bank by diverting Rs 8.26 lakh of an NRI customer.

According to the FIR and chargesheet, Y K Raghavendra and M N Manohar, superintendents in the Executor, Trustee and Taxation section of the bank, diverted the funds of Dr J P Mathias, a resident of Oklahoma, USA, by pledging his Kamadhenu deposit between 1979 and 1981. Both acted in collusion with H S Mohan Kumar, managing director of Bravo Plastics Private Limited, Bangalore, and P A Govindachari, managing partner of Ashwini Fabricators, Bangalore.

When a case was registered against him, the prime accused was 39 years old. Today, he is nearly 70 years old, and it still has not been established whether the accused, along with three others, committed the crime or not.

The CBI, which is faced with problems like staff shortage and resource constraints, took up the case after the Canara Bank Head Office in Bangalore complained against two of its employees.

As per the FIR and the charge-sheet, Y K Raghavendra Rao and M N Manohar, superintendents in Executor, Trustee and Taxation Section of the Bank, in collusion with H S Mohan Kumar and P A Govindachari diverted funds of the bank by pledging the ‘Kamadhenu’ deposit belonging to Dr J P Mathias between 1979 and 1981.
Raghavendra and Manohar are also said to have diverted funds belonging to the bank employees’ gratuity fund.

The CBI had charged the duo under Section 420, 477A and 120 B of the IPC for “abusing their official position, furnishing false notings, letters and false power of attorney, causing pecuniary advantage to Bravo Plastics and Ashwini Fabricators.”

The FIR was filed on August 28, 1981, and the charge-sheet was furnished before the court, on November 15, 1983 after CBI completed its investigations.

The case was, however, closed on January 9, 1984, after the CBI failed to produce the original documents.

The CBI re-initiated the case on January 22, 1990, and summons was issued to the accused. Charges for the case, heard by 17 judges till date, were framed only on November 10, 2003, and witnesses were summoned in 2004. At this juncture, the accused challenged the framing of charges in the High Court with whom the records of the case remained till January 2006.

As many as 28 witnesses were examined between August 2006 and October 2010, after which the case reverted to the additional sessions court.

But it was only in 2010 that the CBI was able to produce its key witness Mathias for witness examination.

And nearly after three decades, the defence evidence and arguments have been posted for hearing. The case, which is being heard by CBI special judge I S Antina presently, will come up for its next hearing on July 6.

According to the CBI, this delay is due to 300-odd CBI cases being crammed in one court. The officials, however, said there has been some respite after two additional courts were added by the Centre last October.