While the dust is yet to settle down on scams that stagger with their statistics hovering in thousands and lakhs of crores of rupees, one former powerful leader is in dock and would be facing trial for a 'paltry' amount of Rs 7 lakh spent on his officers on a foreign trip. This news may sound meaningless in the wake of humongous amount being projected in various graft cases, but this proves that graft has always been in the draft.
Former railways minister C.K. Jaffer Sharief will have to face trial in a corruption case of 1995. It is linked to his visit to London for treatment. Sharief had gone to London for his treatment. he is accused of taking along four of his staffers without authorization. This unauthorized act of the then railways minister caused a loss of Rs.7 lakh to the state exchequer.
The CBI registered an FIR against him in 1998 and later filed a charge-sheet. But, in 2005 the CBI filed a closure report in the court due to refusal of sanction by the government to prosecute Sharief. However, the court decided to proceed with the case. Sharief's appeal to stay criminal proceedings was dismissed by the Supreme Court of India on May 10. Only after the apex court's decision, the CBI moved fast and on Tuesday a Special CBI court found sufficient prima facie evidence and framed charges against the former railway minister. CBI Judge N.K. Kaushik has fixed August 21 as the date to begin the trial against him.
Sharief may rue the fact that while other less powerful ministers of today are getting away with cases involving graft of unimaginable amount of money, he is to face trial for an amount as small as Rs 7 lakh and that too was spent on his officers. He may ask whether a minister enjoys the discretion of spending a mere Rs 7 Lakh or not in the wake of recent discretionary spending by most of the ministers? But, then, he will have to answer why should a minister have the discretion to spend people's hard earned money without being subjected to accountability? And, also, can two wrongs make one right?
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