Almost two months after the matter was referred to it, the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) may soon register a criminal case in connection with the case of demonetised currency notes amounting to over ₹8 crore deposited in the coffers of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).
Sources in the Delhi government said that the anti-graft agency had indicated that investigation in the case, which had been referred to it in November last year, would be stepped up in the coming days.
‘Bribe money’
Transport Minister Satyendar Jain had, in November last year, said that some senior DTC officials could be involved in the matter.
The Minister indicated that they had either deposited their “bribe money” into DTC’s bank accounts or they did it for “commission”.
On November 19, the Transport Minister had ordered the DTC to conduct a detailed enquiry into allegations about some officers exchanging ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes for the smaller-value notes collected as bus fare.
Preliminiary report in
“The DTC’s chairman-cum-managing director has submitted his preliminary report. It shows that from November 8 to 20, ₹8,14,85,500 in banned notes was deposited in banks — 33,647 notes in denominations of ₹1,000 and 95,677 notes in denomination of ₹500. I have asked the Transport Commissioner to refer the matter to the ACB and asked him to suspend officials suspected of being involved in this matter,” Mr. Jain had told reporters.
The Minister also said that he was made aware of the issue during a public hearing on November 19. Scrapped ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes were deposited by DTC officials in banks despite the bus agency issuing an order on November 9 asking conductors not to accept demonetised notes.
Mr. Jain also sought to know how high-value currency notes were deposited by DTC officials if conductors did not accept them from passengers.
98% deposits in old notes
“The probe showed that most of the cash deposited was in banned notes. ₹11.65 lakh was deposited in a bank by bus depot staff. Of this, 98% was in old notes. At depots of West Zone, 16,593 notes of ₹1,000 and 43,636 notes of ₹500 were deposited in banks,” the Minister had said.
