Cornered Rly Board refutes CBI charges

Embarrassed by the bribery scandal involving its newly appointed member Mahesh Kumar and nephew of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal among others, the Railway Board held a high-level meeting and discussed ways to restore its credibility.

The meeting was attended by Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal, Member (Electrical) Kulbhushan and Financial Commissioner Vijaya Kanth among others.

“The ministry firmly holds that the process of appointment of members and chairman of Railway Board is foolproof as selection is made on the basis of merit and seniority.

The final decision is taken by the Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC),” said a senior Railway Ministry official. The official contested the CBI’s allegation that Mahesh Kumar paid bribe to secure the post of Member (electrical) Railway Board. “The post is already occupied by a senior person. How can any one pay a bribe for a post which may or may not come in future,” he said.

However, sources revealed that the CBI’s intervention has come at a time when the ministry is engrossed in a bitter battle over who should control the Railway Board.

Three members – A K Vohra (Staff), Keshav Chandra (Mechanical) and K K Srivastava (Traffic) – retired on April 30. Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal and Finance Commissioner Vijaya Kanth are retiring next month. These retirements will necessitate an overhauling of the Board.  

According to rumours, Mahesh Kumar, presently the Member (Staff), started lobbying for the post of Member (Electrical) which may fall vacant in case incumbent Kulbhushan gets elevated to the post of Chairman of the Board which is said to be more likely.

“Three technical members of the Board covering mechanical, engineering and electrical departments wield real power. Other posts covering traffic, staff and finance are considered ‘dry’,” a senior official said.

They said Mahesh Kumar was trying to get rid of a dry post in restructuring of the Board which is likely to be done by the end of the next month.

Ministry defends Mahesh Kumar
The railway ministry on Saturday defended the appointment of Mahesh Kumar. The ministry contradicted the CBI’s contention that he was aspiring for some other post. However, it has not mentioned the CBI or the FIR filed by it.