Bribery case: Acquaintance of CBI ex-judge spilled the beans

Tribune News Service

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, October 11

With three builders and an ex-CBI judge Sudhir Parmar among 10 people in the net, the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) recent chargesheet in the bribery case has revealed that it was actually the judge’s known who spilled the beans and confirmed audio recordings which took place in “his presence”.

The ED has concluded that the judge misused his office for his nephew Ajay Parmar’s job in M3M Group, took around Rs 5 crore bribe from IREO/M3M for giving benefit in a pending case and acquired assets worth Rs 7.59 crore in the name of his relatives, including a plot in Gurugram.

The star witness, Sombir, a resident of Jind, first met Sudhir Parmar in 2021, when he was posted at a labour court in Faridabad. During his statement before the ED, he said he knew Roop Bansal, one of the owners of M3M Group, and had met him on the premises of Ajay Parmar, where the judge was also present.

Recording No. 1 and 2 reportedly revealed that Sudhir Parmar was saying that his nephew was employed with M3M as a legal adviser, and after being appointed as CBI judge, they raised his salary from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 18 lakh (Judge: Unhonay mere bhatije ko 12 lakh se 18 lakh kar diye). As per recording No. 5, Sudhir Parmar was asking for Rs 50 lakh per accused for a meeting, while the other person replied that even Rs 2 crore was fine (Judge: 50-50 kar de khali 50, dedh crore. Other: Do mein do mein koi dikkat nahin. Do bhi theek hai.)

Recording No. 6 allegedly revealed that the judge told someone that he never talked to Roop Bansal or his brother Basant Bansal directly on their phones, and had always used FaceTime on his nephew’s phone. He told Roop Bansal to directly meet Saket and Manoj Mishra (senior ED officers) and show them all documents and that his property would not be attached as he had talked to them (Roop Bansal: Sir, meri ek request hai ki mere registry kara do. Judge: Maine keh diya Sunil ko usne bhi bola ki maine bol diya, Saket ko maine directly bola.)

Sombir revealed that on August 12, 2022, he visited Sudhir Parmar’s house, where Roop Bansal, Ajay Parmar and an unknown person were also present. They discussed cases of M3M Group in the CBI and ED. The judge then allegedly told the unknown person to take Rs 50 lakh for three persons — Roop Bansal, Basant Bansal and Pankaj Bansal — and arrange their meeting with ED officials. The unknown person left without saying anything.

Sombir said the judge then asked him to take money and arrange a meeting with the ED, which Sombir claimed to have declined. He again met the judge in his chambers twice in 2022, where he was made the same offer. He declined, saying that he did not know anyone in the ED.

“The fact that a judicial officer is discussing an undertrial case of his court with a person who is under investigation in that case, in his home, breaches all ethics and grossly violates judicial propriety,” the ED chargesheet stated.

Was ‘offered’ money

Witness Sombir has alleged that the judge asked him to take money and arrange a meeting with officials of the Enforcement Directorate, which Sombir claimed to have declined, saying that he did not have contacts in the ED.

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#Central Bureau of Investigation CBI #Enforcement Directorate