CBI registers 2 cases against Maneka Gandhi in fund grants to NGOs

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) The CBI today registered two cases against Member of Parliament Maneka Gandhi in connection with the alleged allocation of funds to certain Non-Governmental Organisations during her tenure as minister in the NDA regime.

The two cases -- under section 120 B read with 420, 468 and 471 of the IPC and section 13 (2) read with 13 (1) (d) of the PC Act and under section 120 B read with section 13 (2) read with 13 (1) (d) of PC Act -- were slapped against Ms Gandhi, former Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, and other officials which included secretary Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF), then 'Zila Alp Sankhyak Kalyan Adhikari - Pilibhit' and manager of 'Alp Sankhyak Mridul Girls Inter College Shiksha Samiti - Bilaspur, Pilibhit' and then managing trustee 'Gandhi Rural Welfare Trust (GRWT), New Delhi, according to the CBI.

Enquiry into the cases revealed that manager of 'Alp Sankhyak Mridul Girls Inter College Shiksha Samiti - Bilaspur, Pilibhit' had applied to the Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF), on April 12, 1999. for santioning a grant of Rs 42 lakh along with supplementary documents which were later found to be forged.

''Enquiry has revealed that all the documents submitted along with the application pertaining to running of the school were false and forged. There was in fact no school running at the time of submission of the application.'' Enquiry has also revealed that the land was transferred to the Society much later on November 27, 1999, it said.

''The Manager of the Samiti/Society was sanctioned a grant of Rs 15 lakh by the Governing Body presided over by the aforesaid former Minister when the society had then no land, when the society had been created only 12 days prior to submission of the application, when the society had submitted false information that it was running a school for the last three years and submitted false/forged documents regarding the same and when the said Manager of the society was intimately known to the said Minister since 1980-81, having been associated in politics with her.'' Also, the College was named after the said former Minister and inaugurated by her son Varun on December 14, 2000, which showed that public money was fraudulently used to advance personal objectives through abuse of official position by irregularly granting the aforesaid grant and causing undue favour to her political associate, said the CBI.

''The former Minister had sanctioned another Rs six lakhs to the said college from her MPLADS fund on August 28, 2001 (though actually Rs 4.75 lakh was released by the DM).'' As regards the second case relating to Gandhi Rural Welfare Trust (GRWT), enquiries revealed that the Trust was got registered on March 8, 2000 with the sister of the said former Minister as its Chairperson and a doctor well known to the Minister and to her family as its Managing Trustee.

The said doctor wrote an undated letter to the Minister in which he fraudulently mentioned that the said Trust was involved for a long time in Social Work, specially in the field of education and medicine/health while requesting to allot a minimum of five acres of land to start a Nursing College by the Trust. The Minister forwarded the said letter to DM, Pilibhit on March 21, 2000 for doing the needful.

He also moved an application on January 2, 2001 to MAEF for seeking financial assistance of Rs 2.18 crore for establishing a Nursing College at Chowk, Pilibhit, (UP). At the 35th Governing Body meeting of the Trust presided over by the Minister, Rs 50 lakh was sanctioned to the Trust and the condition of three years post registration was relaxed.

''Enquiries also revealed that the Minister sanctioned five ambulances from her MPLADS Fund to GRWT during November 2002, for which, Rs 10.40 lakh was sanctioned to the Trust. The GRWT instead purchased two Mahindra DI Marshal Jeeps, which cost much less and these vehicles are being used for personal works by the Trust.'' The cases are being investigated, it added.

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