Punjab: CBI court sends 14 FCI officials, 16 millers to jail in rice scam

Mohali, Nov 14 (IANS) A Special CBI Court in Punjab's Mohali sentenced 30 convicts, including 14 officials of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and 16 private rice millers, to jail terms ranging from three to one year in the 2004-2005 Punjab Rice Procurement Scam.

The convicted accused were held guilty of criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the Special Court on Friday, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official said.

The 14 FCI officials were additionally convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, the official said in a statement.

The court sentenced the convicts to rigorous imprisonment ranging from one to three years, along with fines, the statement added.

"The case relates to a criminal conspiracy between FCI officials and private rice millers during Kharif Season 2004-2005, wherein substandard rice was accepted as Grade-A rice at FCI centres in Malerkotla, Sunam and Tapa in Sangrur district. This resulted in wrongful payments to rice millers and financial loss to the Corporation," the statement said.

The irregularities came to light during joint surprise checks conducted by the CBI in September 2005.

Laboratory examination of rice samples confirmed that the consignments did not conform to the prescribed quality specifications.

Accordingly, the CBI registered the case on January 7, 2006, the statement said.

In the Malerkotla Centre Case, the Special CBI Court convicted 10 accused, comprising five FCI officials and five private rice millers.

Varinder Rajput, Girdari Lal and K.P. Singh, the then FCI Technical Assistants, and Raunaq Ali and R.N. Sharma, the then FCI Assistant Managers (Quality Control) have been sentenced to Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) for two years with a fine of Rs 15,000 each, the CBI said.

Private rice millers punished in the case include Harish Kumar and Rajnish Kumar, Partners of Shiv Shakti Rice Agro Products, and Rakesh Goyal, Partner of R.K. Agro Tech.

In the Sunam centre case, the Special Court convicted six accused, comprising three FCI officials and three private rice millers.

R.C. Verma, the then FCI Assistant Manager (Quality Control) and Som Pal Singh and K.L. Gulati, the then FCI Technical Assistants, have been sentenced to RI for two years with a fine of Rs 15,000 each, the CBI added.

In the Sunam Centre Case, the court convicted six accused persons, comprising three FCI officials and three private rice millers.

R.C. Verma and Som Pal Singh and K.L. Gulati have been sentenced to RI for two years with a fine of Rs 15,000 each, the statement said.

In the Tapa Centre case, the court convicted 14 accused persons, comprising six FCI officials and eight private persons.

Gurmail Singh, the then FCI Deputy Manager (Quality Control); R.S. Sirohi, the then FCI Assistant Manager (Quality Control); Ramesh Kumar, Harinder Singh, Harish Kumar and Satnam Singh, the then FCI Technical Assistants; have been sentenced to RI for two years with a fine of Rs 15,000 each, the statement added.

--IANS

rch/khz