Railway PSU chief used government fund to pay for personal household expenses: Report

An official at one of the Indian Railways' Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) used his home as a "company guest house" and used the company's fund to pay for personal household expenses, according to a report by The Indian Express.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), Amitabh Banerjee, used the office funding to pay exorbitant medical bills, long-term visa fee for foreign travel on personal passport, groceries, vegetables, dry fruits, computer mouse, sanitary items and utilities bills, among others.

The IRFC lends money to Railways for purchase of rolling stock as well as creation of infrastructure assets.

The financial misconduct came to the fore following a whistleblower's complaint. A vigilance probe conducted by the Railways showed that Banerjee moved with his family into a four-bedroom house in New Delhi’s Green Park Extension in January 2020 after getting the company to take the house on lease for around Rs 2 lakh per month as the IRFC "guest house".

Banerjee has been stripped of his powers as Chairman and Managing Director of IRFC as the probe revealed financial misconduct.

As per the report, the expenses of consumables at the "guest house" ranged around Rs 30,000 a month. The IRFC "guest house" had a fridge, TV, washing machine, which were rented at Rs 70,000 per month.

Banerjee allegedly also got a 10-year UK visa in 2019 for his official travel to the country for which he claimed a visa fee of around Rs 98,000. The vigilance probe questioned why the company paid for the expensive 10-year visa on his personal (non-official) passport when Banerjee is due to retire in 2023.

"The financial implication of the various alleged misconduct may not be much but they are misuse of power and misconduct nonetheless, and certainly unbecoming of a CMD of a PSU," a source from the Railway Ministry told the publication. "That’s why he has been divested of his powers. He cannot be removed outright without approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which may take around two-three months," the source added.