Rajasthan ACB busts bribery racket in Transport Department, seizes cash worth Rs 1.20 cr

The Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau busted a bribery racket in the state's Transport Department, seizing cash worth Rs 1.20 crore from private agents, officials said on Monday. The revelation led to an uproar in the state assembly with the opposition BJP staging a walkout and demanding details about the "beneficiaries".

Outside the House, the ruling Congress MLAs too questioned the functioning of the department, accusing officials of indulging in a large-scale corruption. On Sunday night, the ACB arrested Transport Inspector Udaiveer Singh while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 40,000 from private agent Manish Mishra.

Seven other officers and as many private agents were also arrested, ACB officials said. A probe was ordered after the ACB received complaints from transporters four months ago that district transport officers were collecting monthly bribes through private agents by threatening to cancel their registrations.

"Investigations were carried out to verify information following which the action was taken," ACB DG Alok Tripathi said. Additional Director General (ADG) ACB Dinesh M N said 17 teams were formed which raided 13 locations in Jaipur, three in the outskirts and one in Haryana’s Rewari.

Shahjahanpur DTO Gajendra Singh, Chomu DTO Vinay Bansal, Jaipur headquarters DTO Mahesh Sharma, RTO inspectors Shivcharan Meena, Alok Budhaniya, Navin Jain and Ratan Lal were arrested, he said. Private agents Jaswant Singh Yadav, Vishnu Kumar, Mamta, Manish Mishra, Ranveer, Vishnu Kaushik and Pawan, alias Pehalwan, were also arrested, he added.

The matter was raised in the state assembly. The Opposition BJP staged a walkout, expressing dissatisfaction over the Congress government's reply on action taken by the ACB against the alleged bribery racket.

The BJP had filed multiple adjournment motions and wanted a discussion over the issue. But during Zero Hour, when a few legislators tried to raise the issue, they were disallowed by Speaker CP Joshi who said the government will give a statement in the House later.

In the post-lunch sitting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal's spoke on the adjournment motions, but BJP members expressed dissatisfaction over his reply.  They created an uproar and sought details of the key "beneficiaries". Dhariwal said the ACB has been carrying out a crackdown on the wrongdoings in the department on a continuous basis and tabled details of action taken by the bureau.

He said 30 cases were registered during 2013-2018, when the BJP was ruling the state. During the period, 16 transport inspectors, six DTOs and eight employees were booked, he said.

The minister informed the House that since December 2018, six cases were registered, which included one case of disproportionate assets and two of misuse of public office. Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore and BJP legislator Ashok Lahoti tried to raise more questions on the issue, but the Speaker did not allow them, and continued with the proceedings of the House. The BJP legislators staged a walkout.

Later, Rajasthan Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas told reporters outside the House that action was taken to eliminate corruption in the department. "The Congress government's aim is to end corruption. I assure that justice will be done with those who are not guilty. Innocent officers need not be afraid if the ACB team arrives, whereas corrupt officials will not be spared," Khachariyawas said.

The minister said only one inspector was caught red-handed and searches were conducted on the premises of others. BJP MLA Kali Charan Saraf said such a big-scale corruption cannot be limited only to the lower level and a monthly collection must be going to the upper level.

"The CM should ensure effective probe and action against whosoever is involved," he said. Congress MLAs too raised questions on the Transport Department functioning. "As per my information, a majority of officials in the Transport Department are corrupt. The monthly recovery is shared with those at the top. It is a big network," said Congress MLA Rajendra Gudha.

He claimed that the corruption booty goes to top functionaries not merely from the Transport Department but also from the excise and mines departments. Congress MLA Ramnarayan Meena said corruption "has spread its wing and no one is clean".