The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against officials of the Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), including its former chief, Mr V.K.Sibal, and other private persons under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The agency has alleged that the then officials of DGH — Petroleum Ministry's technical arm that supervises grant of licences and permissions for private operators — had shown undue favours to a private firm in speculative seismic survey in lieu of personal favours obtained from representatives of the company.

It has also been alleged that in 2005, a contract was awarded to the private firm for conducting seismic speculative survey on nomination basis at an exorbitant cost and this caused huge financial loss to the government.

An FIR was registered under Sections 120-B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of PC Act, 1988. Searches were conducted at various places, including Delhi, Dehra Dun, Noida and Mumbai, which led to recovery of documents relating to immovable and movable property belonging to the accused, a CBI spokesperson said on Friday.

CBI sources said that apart from Mr Sibal, the FIR named Mr D. K. Rawat, the then Chief Geologist; Mr T.S.L.N. Reddy, Manager (Finance and Accounts); Ms Savinder Gupta, Chief Chemist; Dr S.K. Jain, Advisor (Geologist); Mr K.A. Murali, Head of Accounts Department, and Ms Anuriti Sahi, Advisor (Contracts). The FIR also names the private firm G.X. Technology, a subsidiary of a US-based firm, and its then Manager (Exploration), Ms Sujata Subramaniam.

Earlier, the former Central Vigilance Commissioner, Mr Pratyush Sinha, had ordered a “discreet inquiry'' by the CBI into the allegations of a nexus between the country's largest private sector exploration firm, Reliance Industries, and the Director-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), Mr V.K. Sibal.

However, the present FIR is not related to Reliance Industries, CBI sources clarified.

Related Topics