‘A Whopping One Lakh Grams of Gold Missing from CBI Custody: Madras High Court Directs CB-CID to Investigate the Case
(Judicial Quest News Network)
In a major embarrassment to the CBI, the Madras High Court Friday ordered the Tamil nadu Police to probe the disappearance of 103 Kgs Gold from the agency’s custody, rejecting its plea that “the prestige of the CBI would come down if investigated by local police”.
The Gold is part of the 400.47 kg in bullion and ornaments confiscated by the CBI when it carried out searches at the office of Surana Corporation Ltd in Chennai in 2012.
The CBI had seized the gold in connection with cases dating back to 2012, filed over allegations that officials of Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) in Chennai had shown undue favors towards Surana Corporation Limited, which dealt, in import of gold and silver. The gold amounting to 400.47 kg and in form of bars and ornaments, was seized by the CBI from the office building of Surana in Chennai, and locked and sealed in the firm’s vaults. The CBI claims to have submitted the keys of the vault to a special CBI Court in Chennai, through no date regarding this is mentioned in documents.
In September 2013, the CBI, registered another case, saying that while the seized gold was not wanted in the 2012 cases, it had found that Surana had imported the same in violation of the Foreign Trade Policy. The CBI hence requested that the seized gold be transferred from the first case the fresh one – following which the court allowed the transfer of about 400 kg on record. “There was no physical incentivization by the court” as the gold was already in the vault.
The matter relates to the petition filed by the liquidator of Surana Corporation Ltd. Seeking direction to CBI to handover the remaining 103.864 kg Gold.
While Considering this petition, the court asked CBI why no FIR was registered for theft in this regard.
The CBI’s special public prosecutor submitted that an internal inquiry is being conducted by the CBI and that under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, the CBI does not have the authority to register a theft case, which falls within the domain of the local police.
Normally in such cases of missing the CBI immediately files an FIR with the local police but even after the case came to the notice of CBI Director R K Shukla in March this year, no FIR has been registered so far.
It is further submitted that First, the alleged shortfall of 103.97 kgs. of gold could be a genuine mistake as contended by the CBI, or
➢ Secondly, the CBI officials, in collusion, with the panchas and others, may have illegally dealt with the gold while maintaining the weight of the gold as 400 kgs. in the seizure mahazar, as a shortfall therein would have made Surana cry foul.
➢ The third possibility is that the CBI officials, in collusion with Surana and others, may have permitted Surana to deal with 100 and odd kgs. of gold after effecting the seizure of 400 kgs. This Court is not expressing any opinion on these possibilities. Suffice it to say that a free and fair investigation is, therefore, imperative to unearth the truth in this case.
Subsequently in 2015, the CBI filed a closure report in the second case stating that “there is no adequate evidence forthcoming”. The CBI Special Court accepted the same but directed that the seized gold be handed over to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). This order was later set aside by the Madras High Court on Surana’s petition.
In its order on Friday directing a probe the High Court noted Thus, all of them, like the famous character Colorado played by the late Omar Sharif in the Hollywood blockbuster, Mackenna’s Gold, went on a gold hunting expedition to the Special Court. Like Colorado entering into an agreement with Monkey, the apache, to share the spoils of gold, the State Bank of India and Surana entered into an agreement and filed a compromise memo before the Special Court in Crl.M.P.No.5916 of 2015, requesting the Court to hand over the gold weighing 400.47 kgs. to the State Bank of India for settlement of the dues to the Banks.
The CBI has filed a counter signed by S.Manikavel, Inspector of Police, CBI, in which, it is stated that the CBI had used the weighing machine that was available in the office of Surana and the total weight showed by the machine was 400.47 kgs. of gold and they had kept the seized gold in the safe vaults, sealed them in the presence of the independent witnesses and produced the 72 keys of the vaults and safes in the Special Court; in the presence of the officials of the banks and Surana, the vaults and safes were inspected from 27.02.2020 to 29.02.2020 and at that time, the seals that were affixed on the vaults were found to be intact therefore, the CBI is not liable for the shortage of gold and if at all the banks need a remedy, the remedy is not a writ petition, but, elsewhere.
Rejecting the arguments, the court said it was “unable to fathom as to how there could be discrepancy of more than 100 kg…. Gold will not diminish in weight like ganja by efflux
