CBI registers case against seven HAL officials on corruption charges

In a major turn of events, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against seven officials of state-owned aviation and defence manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on charges of corruption. The allegation is that Rs 5 crore (Rs 5,01,74,906 to be exact) has been paid by HAL to contractors between January and August 2018 based on forged bills, constituting a misappropriation of company funds.

Here are the names of the suspected officers given by HAL:

• Shri Bhaben Maitra, Engine Division
• Shri Abhinash Kumar Sarkar
• Smt. Subhashree Das
• Shri Jayaram Garada
• Shri Bipra Charana Maharana
• Shri Jisudan Khosla 
• Shri Urdhab Khosla 
• Shri Sadananda Nayak

HAL has initiated a probe into the matter and issued the following report: 

The CBI, has had a new Director installed at its helm on Wednesday following the internal war between erstwhile DCBI Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana. However, as per the notice by the CBI below, the case was filed on Tuesday:

HAL has been in the news for quite some time now in connection with the Opposition's allegations regarding preferential treatment to Anil Ambani's Reliance group over HAL in terms of choosing an offset partner for the Dassault Aviation-manufactured fighter jet that the Indian Air Force is set to receive from France. 

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