B R Anil Kumar, while serving as executive director at the Pune-headquartered MIL, allegedly sought and accepted illegal gratification in exchange for official favours
Pune: The ministry of defence on Friday suspended Munitions India Limited (MIL) executive director B R Anil Kumar, after CBI arrested him on Oct 13 with two others in an alleged bribery case linked to a Rs500-crore ammunition contract with private defence manufacturer SMPP Ltd. A special CBI court remanded Kumar, his brother Harshavardhan B R and businessman Ashish Kansal, the alleged bribe-giver and CEO and promoter-director of SMPP, in police custody till Oct 19. CBI registered the case on Oct 12.
Therefore, the role of other MIL officials is also being probed,” a source said.
A senior official from the department of defence production told TOI that Kumar had been suspended on disciplinary grounds, in accordance with the applicable rules. At this stage, MIL has been cooperating with the CBI ( Central Bureau of Investigation ) and will share all necessary documents sought by the agency,” the official said. A senior Indian Ordnance Factory Service official said, “The ministry should form a separate inquiry panel to investigate this case.
“We are also planning to conduct an internal inquiry to understand at what level his involvement was in the overall dealing with a private firm and what documents he had shared with it. It needs to find out loopholes in the existing system and frame some guidelines and restrictions while dealing with high valued contracts with private firms in PSUs. An independent vigilance branch also needs to be established at each of these corporations to monitor officials’ activities regularly. The agency alleged that Kumar, while serving as executive director at the Pune-headquartered defence PSU, sought and accepted illegal gratification in exchange for official favours and access to sensitive information concerning defence production, procurement and other strategically important activities. “The dealing of a high-value contract with a private firm is not done by a single official of the company.
MIL’s chairman and managing director Sanjay Hazari did not respond to TOI ’s phone calls and text messages seeking the organisation’s response on the matter. It did not respond to a media query sent through the defence PRO, Pune, either.