CBI case against MHA official for graft

The CBI on Monday registered a case against an undersecretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on charges of corruption and missing files related to NGOs foreign fundings.

The agency registered the case against Anand Joshi and other unnamed persons under criminal conspiracy and relevant sections of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The investigations came after files pertaining to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) violations by two NGOs run by social activist Teesta Setalvad went missing from the Home Ministry. The files were traced and restored in the FCRA division but the CBI was asked to investigate the matter.

“It was alleged that the public servant while working as undersecretary in the MHA, had been indulging in corrupt activities and arbitrarily issuing notices to large number of NGOs/Societies registered under FCRA who had been receiving significant amount of foreign contribution,” an official statement said.

The agency said the officer demanded and obtained “illegal gratification from some of these organisations through various immovable assets as well as certain private companies”.

Searches were conducted at 4 locations in the residential and office premises of the accused and others. Cash worth Rs 7.5 lakh and certain documents, including files pertaining to MHA and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting were recovered.