Money was for mom’s op, watches are fake: Kumar
Says most of seized Rs 10.5L was for surgery, only 5 to 6 of 33 luxury watches were genuine.
Suspended censor board CEO Rakesh Kumar has approached the Bombay High Court for bail saying that he has been implicated in the corruption case because measures introduced by him had drastically affected the business of movie certification agents.
In the bail application filed last week, Kumar has also given an explanation for how Rs 10.5 lakh in cash came to be at his official residence. The money was seized by authorities. He says a major part of the cash was brought by his mother for a knee operation she was supposed to undergo.
The application says that out of the 33 ‘expensive’ watches recovered from him, only five or six of them were real. The rest were nothing but ‘imitation watches’ and therefore have no value at all.
According to the bail application, filed through advocate Mandar Goswami, Kumar noticed a huge backlog of about 250 films after he joined the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in January this year. To cater to this backlog, he introduced a system of applying for a censor certificate for films and keeping track of the application online itself.
“After taking over the charge, the applicant (Kumar) realised that the agents’ lobby and red-tapism had resulted in a piling up of over 250 films in the censor boards. Since his posting as CEO CBFC, he has made efforts to make the entire system of functioning at the censor board transparent, where agents would be rendered useless,” says the application. Kumar has claimed that the current pendency at the CBFC is close to nil.
The application also says that Kumar had also forwarded a proposal for getting all agents registered, so as to bring more transparency into the system and oust unauthorised agents.
He claims to have introduced a roster system for forming committees by four board members so that the movies are viewed on a rotation basis by different members to avoid favouritism. The application also mentions the provisions under the Cinematographic (Certification) Rules, 1983 in detail to show that he is not the sole authority to decide on certification of any movie.
With regards to the allegations of cash, properties and jewellery recovered from his residence, the application says that all of it is accounted for and declared in his income-tax returns from time to time. It also says that these possessions are from the time before he joined the CBFC, and therefore can’t be attributed to his tenure over there.
The application is likely to be heard con September 29. Kumar was arrested on August 18 for allegedly indulging in corruption while giving censor board certification for films. He has been in custody since then.
Suspended censor board CEO Rakesh Kumar has approached the Bombay High Court for bail saying that he has been implicated in the corruption case because measures introduced by him had drastically affected the business of movie certification agents.
In the bail application filed last week, Kumar has also given an explanation for how Rs 10.5 lakh in cash came to be at his official residence. The money was seized by authorities. He says a major part of the cash was brought by his mother for a knee operation she was supposed to undergo.
Kumar also seeks to explain documents pertaining to two properties found in a bank locker in a raid conducted by the Anti Corruption Bureau of the Central Bureau of Investigation. The bail application says the two properties were disclosed by Kumar by way of statutory declaration under service rules.
The application says that out of the 33 ‘expensive’ watches recovered from him, only five or six of them were real. The rest were nothing but ‘imitation watches’ and therefore have no value at all.
According to the bail application, filed through advocate Mandar Goswami, Kumar noticed a huge backlog of about 250 films after he joined the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in January this year. To cater to this backlog, he introduced a system of applying for a censor certificate for films and keeping track of the application online itself.
“After taking over the charge, the applicant (Kumar) realised that the agents’ lobby and red-tapism had resulted in a piling up of over 250 films in the censor boards. Since his posting as CEO CBFC, he has made efforts to make the entire system of functioning at the censor board transparent, where agents would be rendered useless,” says the application. Kumar has claimed that the current pendency at the CBFC is close to nil.
The application also says that Kumar had also forwarded a proposal for getting all agents registered, so as to bring more transparency into the system and oust unauthorised agents.
He claims to have introduced a roster system for forming committees by four board members so that the movies are viewed on a rotation basis by different members to avoid favouritism. The application also mentions the provisions under the Cinematographic (Certification) Rules, 1983 in detail to show that he is not the sole authority to decide on certification of any movie.
With regards to the allegations of cash, properties and jewellery recovered from his residence, the application says that all of it is accounted for and declared in his income-tax returns from time to time. It also says that these possessions are from the time before he joined the CBFC, and therefore can’t be attributed to his tenure over there.
The application is likely to be heard con September 29. Kumar was arrested on August 18 for allegedly indulging in corruption while giving censor board certification for films. He has been in custody since then.
