When High Court Judgment fails to deliver justice: what happened in Benaulim

Benaulim is known as the land of Lord Parashuram with the legendary arrow landing at a site close to the Arabian sea, and known as the Komla Tollem (The Lotus Lake). Parashuram, according to Puranas has been military leader of the Brahmin in quest of the conquest of Indian territories. He is known for fighting bloody wars against Marathas (Also known as Chardes after Shenoy Gembab's book Ain Vellar of 1945) weeping them off the face of the planet earth 21 times. He is also known for killing of his mother Ranuka because she was not a Brahmin but a mulnivasi of India. This narration has been publicly cited often by Hon. Waman Meshram, President of Bharat Mukti Morcha. It is unfortunate Bamani myth associated with Benaulim to serve their agenda of keeping real history wrapped up under their Parashuram myth. This is also the reason why Parashuram' statue is prominently displayed at Menezes Braganza Hall, Panjim just like Chanakya's statue at Kala Academy, Panjim. They are both icons of Bamon Raj.

This judgment of the Goa bench of Bombay High Court lacks element of justice and totally bias in favour of the real estate owners and totally against agitating people of Benaulim and entire Goa. It sets dangerous precedent of using High Court to bulldoze voices of protests against nastier developments. This judgment is another arrow of Parashuram working tirelessly in quest of establishing Bamon Raj.  Here is a critical review of the context and then text of the judgement.

One fine April morning, some unusual digging activity commenced in the near vicinity of this lake and a little over 500 metres away from the high tide line, at Survey  No. 378/1-B.  This caught the attention of the villagers from Soriant Ward of Benaulim.  

A complaint was filed in April 2008 with the local Panchayat stating that some illegal construction activity is going on at the site without displaying the mandatory Licensing details.  Inquiries revealed that a mega housing project was coming up at the site.  Scrutiny of the Construction License revealed that the construction plan besides other irregularities showed an access road of 6 metres.  Soon a show cause notice and Stop work order was issued by the Panchayat after a huge agitation by the Villagers against similar mega housing projects.

Stung by this action of the Panchayat, this builder from Mumbai filed a number of false police cases against the villagers.  He unsuccessfully sought an injunction through the civil courts and when he failed in his ulterior designs, he dragged the villagers to the High Court too.  The villagers though continuously harassed, remained undaunted.
After laying low for about three years, he approached the Panchayat to renew his License which by then had expired.  The Panchayat refused.  The builder appealed against the panchayat Decision with the quasi-judicial authority in the Directorate of Panchayats which upheld his appeal and directed the Panchayat to issue the licence.  

The Panchayat was dragged to the High Court of Bombay at Goa.  The case was halfheartedly defended by the Panchayat resulting in directions being issued to the Panchayat to reconsider the builder’s application for renewal.  When the Panchayat was about to issue the License, the villagers approached the Chief Minister of Goa who was also the Minster for Town and Country Planning Department (TCP) and urged him to direct the TCP to conduct a site inspection.  The site inspection revealed that the approach road was less than 3.5 metres and that the Technical clearance given in 2007-08 was illegal.  The TCP then informed the Panchayat not to renew the licence and to
 keep the same in abeyance till the approach road was put in place.  The Panchayat could have rejected the application for renewal and also cancelled its earlier Licence of 2007-08 since it was obtained under false claims.  However, TCP-Builder-Panchayat nexus was revealed when the Panchayat in December 2012, meekly kept the renewal in abeyance despite the resolution of the Gram Sabha to reject the construction Licence in totality.

The Builder moved the High Court of Bombay at Goa through Writ Petition No. 382/2013 naming The Village Panchayat of Cana-Benaulim as respondents and The TCP Department, Margao as second respondents. During the course of the hearing, the Courts in its Order dated 3rd April, 2014 directed the  Executive Engineer (Roads) PWD, Margao to depute a competent person to visit the site in question and submit a Report disclosing as to whether a six-metre wide road along with a carriageway is available at the site which would be accessible to the proposed project of the Petitioners herein; and also further directed that the Report should also include the width of the existing road and the width as per the Acquisition Plan.  Accordingly a site inspection was conducted on 5th April, 2014.  A report was submitted to the Court.  The report concluded that the site is approximately 315 metres away from the junction of the road leading to Benaulim Beach.  

The report also mentioned that land acquisition has been done upto property bearing survey No. 378/1 of Benaulim village in 1995.  The Builder’s property is in Survey No. 378/1-B.  Between this two points, there is a stretch of a narrow private road of 93 metres and which has not been acquired by the government.  The width of this road is 3.3 metres at its broadest point and 2.7 metres at its narrowest point states the report.  This road is abutted by compound walls of the owners of the respective houses alongside the road.

Subsequent to placing of this report/affidavit, the TCP through its Senior Town Planner filed an affidavit stating that their letter dated 25.05.2012 (directing that the NOC dated 28.12.2006 be kept in abeyance) could be withdrawn subject to the prior compliance of the following conditions, ie. the builder (the Petitioner in this case) shall develop the carriage width to 4 metres at their own (builder’s) cost upto the portion for which the land was acquired by the Government.  The affidavit further states that the stretch of road which is a private road shall also be developed by the Petitioner at their cost to 4 meters carriage width.

The Builders subsequently filed an Affidavit cum Undertaking stating that they will deposit the amount determined by the PWD to extend the width of the existing tar road to a minimum width of 4 metres . As usual, the case was poorly defended by the Counsel of the Panchayat.

The High Court of Bombay at Goa vide its oral judgment dated 07/05/2014 quashed the decision of the Panchayat not to renew the license (letter dated 22.12.2012) and directed the Panchayat to consider the renewal application dated 08.02.2011 afresh within four weeks after TCP passes the order as stated in their affidavit.

What makes the villagers wonder is how the High Court could appreciate the statement of the TCP to develop a stretch of road of 93 metres length which is in private property and which does not belong to the Builder in question.  The villagers say that the sudden U-turn of the TCP is understandable considering the fact that it is controlled by vested interests and politicians.  They say that the same High Court had quashed attempts to issue Construction Licences in the past where the access road was not in place.  They wonder what went wrong in this case.

The TCP which usually takes months to grant technical approval to simple applications for individual houses was prompt in issuing revised technical clearance within days of the high court order.  It is for the general public to summarize the case. The manipulation has taken place at the highest level.

Is Ozone corporate involved in dragging Society of Pillar Fathers into Vanxim land scandal?

"Aug 2011 -   Ozonegroup facilitated Training programs for islanders conducted by Agnel Ahsram in Association with United Nations Development Program" reads the content of the corporate PR booklet in gloss colors circulated around in Goa to drum up support for the corporate seeking to establish control over the island of Vanxim. The title of the booklet without author is "Vanxim Island Development, An eco-sensitive, Low Density, sustainable, Iconic Tourism Destination." This in alleged involvement of Agnel Ashram has been listed as one of the achievements of the corporate that is badly in need of legitimacy after multi-crore scandal involving Archbishop of Goa that got exposed in 2010.

Archbishop Gonsalves and Archbishop Ferrao sold Vanxim island between 1999 to 2006 in secrecy without informing people in Vanxim, that too at dirt cheap price. It looks that Agnel Ashram administered by another Roman Catholic Society of Pillar Fathers has been roped in to fill up the thirst to recover lost legitimacy.

This is claim is second most serious matter after the Archbishop selling Vanxim at the rate of Rs.6/- and Rs. 20/- per square meter, immorally and in violation of Canon Law that advocates taking all the stake holders in confidence. It is worth to examine this phenomena with some detail as the religious order is dragged by the Bamon Raj to support corporate take over of Vanxim island. Did Pillar Father got involved under duress with pressure from the Archbishop of Goa or did they associate with immoral affair on own freewill?

Venerable Fr.Agnelo would never support the scandal of Vanxim sale committed in Bishop's Palace with Bamon Mahendra Gaunekar as its partner accomplice. When contacted Director of Fr. Agnel Ashram Fr.Tony Fernandes in Verna, Goa he denied any collaboration with Ozone corporate. "We have nothing to do with Vanxim in Goa" he stated categorically on May 28, 2014. This means Ozone corporate is spreading lies and wrongly using the name of Agnel Ashram to drag it into scam? Ozone corporate has to be hauled up for getting Agnel Ashram and Pillar Fathers into disrepute.

So here we go: Ozone indulged in disseminating false information of Agnel Ashram involvement in Vanxim and mega lie of United Nations Development Program. Foundations built on lies falls like pack of cards.

Remembering May 16, 2010 in Vanxim: Politicians, Activists as agents of Bamon Raj

1. On 16th May 2010 local MLA Pandurang Madkaikar along with Mahendra Gaunekar and Rudresh Chodankar came to Vanxim. They came precisely to get the support of the Vanxim people to Golf project in Vanxim for those born rich people with plenty of money to flush around. They came to convince the villagers to part with their island measuring 180 acres of land in the middle of saline Mandovi waters in Tiswadi, Goa. They were not welcomed in the village by mass of Vanxim people.
2. During the heated interactions then member of Panchayat Manuel Furtado flanged file in his hand on Maggie Silveira for expressing dissenting voice to the golf project and Starred hotel project in Vanxim. Democracy was not acceptable to the local MLA Madkaikar, and all his cronies and violence was pressed in service with Maggie as target.
3. This happened in presence of then local Sarpanch and current panch Tulsidas Kundaikar, then panch member Rama Bhomkar and all Vanxim villagers.
4.Complaints were filed before Women's cell, Bailancho saad (Sabina Martins), Goa State Commission for Women, SP North, SPDO Panjim, and Old Goa police station. No authority acted in Maggie's defense till date. Police mentioned that they are under political pressure. Sabina Martins promised decisive action against culprit Manuel Furtado but betrayed her own words through her inaction for the reasons she is yet to state publicly. Her inaction then turned "Bailancho Saad (Women's voice) as Bailancho ghat (Women's betrayal)" as Maggie Silveira puts it. She went on with this kind of behavior on two more occasions later. On 27th September 2011 when 5 buses full consisting of 300 people came to the Town and Country Planning Department. On 27/09/2011 whereby some people from Diwar, Malar, narva including migrant labourers and a handful of people from Vanxim - most of them were given Rs.1000/- each by Pandurang Madkaikar's agents. Maggie called Sabina Martins at TCP office, Panjim to confront the crowd. Sabina after making Maggie wait there for two and half hours promising to come later said she cannot face the crowds and did not turn out. Then on 12th November 2011 when
Through deceit Goa Police attached to Old Goa police station on 12th November 2011 arrested 4 women associated with Bharat Mukti Morcha and Ilha de Vanxim Association. The arrested women includes Maggie Silveira, Swati Tari, Anuradha Volvoikar and Deepika Tari. Maggie Silveira phoned Sabina Martins from police custody for support. Sabina Martins replied that it was wrong on part of Vanxim women to confront the corporate and confiscate the tripod and hence they have to stay under police custody for three days! However after TV channels started flashing news of arrests on TV that Sabina Martins called Maggie Silveira and offered to send her lawyer. Maggie politely refused the offer and had her own lawyer do the bail application process.
5. No action was taken on 16th may 2010 file throwing incident complaint because of pressure from local MLA Pandurang Madkaikar whose CM was bamon Digambar Kamat. That means police and Sabina Martins stood on the same side; inaction in the face of attack on women. They had no guts to challenge the MLA who is servant of Bamon Raj. And all of them transformed into servants of Bamon Raj in the process!
6.On the same day - 16th May 2010 Vanxim people came to Panjim after this incident and gave all the detail information to Kenzil Rodrigues of Goa 365 TV channel. Free Press is a third pillar of democracy. Kenzil promised them to telecast this story after taking bite from Old Goa police station. It was very encouraging listening to him. But alas, this was not to be so. Press was not to be free any longer. Kenzil's wings cut off, story could not go on air. At mid-night at 12 O'clock Kenzil Rodrigues called up Maggie and informed that MLA Pandurang Madkaikar has phoned him to instruct that this story of panch Manuel Furtado hitting Maggie on her head must not go for telecast. The servant of Bamon Raj MLA Madkaikar has been ordering jounalist Kenzil to censor and he obliged! It is not sure if his recent trip to Austria along with the group of ministers was reward he received for this censorship.
7. So we have the situation here; Police, women's organisation Bailancho Saad/Goa State Women's commission - Sabina Martins, Press - TV Channel Goa 365 - Kenzil Rodrigues all were compromised with Bamon Raj. What a pity! Everyone of these above characters betrayed Vanxim file attack by Manuel Furtado on Maggie Silveira. Bharat Mukti Morcha will never forget this betrayal and will continue to raise it at various public platforms .
8. Sabina Martins by no means is the only activist of Goa to betray Vanxim people. There are other well known activists as well. Two of them came to Vanxim and spoke publicly in defense of Vanxim people. Prajal Sakhadande, a history lecturer at Dempe college, Panjim is one of them. After supporting Vanxim publicly in a public meeting he called Maggie Silveira from Dabolim Airport saying that he is flying to Egypt to see ancient pyramids and now Maggie can sit across the table and compromise with Mahendra Gaunekar. It is not sure as to whether Prajal himself sat across the table and compromised with Gaunekar and got sponsorship of trip to Egypt on history tour.The date of his call will be stamped on his passport the day he flew from India to Egypt. Other wise his sudden silence on Vanxim has no explanation. The second one is Adv.Yatish Naik of Pilerne Citizens Forum. He along with Prajal came to Vanxim and spoke with elegance of a lawyer in Court room opposing Gaunekar's Golf project in Vanxim. However within fortnight he called Maggie Silveira at his Panjim office and asked for the complete file of the document and told her to sit across the table and put up her demands for a compromise before Mahendra Gaunekar. Maggie walked out of his office in protest. The above mentioned people are exposed here for they need to be held publicly accountable.

BMM condemns arrests of villagers protesting mining in Cavrem

Call up Quepem police station landline 08322662253 and get the latest update on the arrests

Bharat Mukti Morcha strongly condemns arrests of 34 mulnivasi people protesting against mining transportation or iron ore in Cavrem village of Quepem taluka On May 8, 2014 without being released till reports last came in. They are split and shifted at police stations in Margao, Vasco etc. According to the reports received Cavrem villagers including large number of tribal people block transportation of ore from Jairam Neogi mine operated illegally since 2007 by Dinar Tarcar. His lease expired in 2007 and Supreme Court in recent judgement has confirmed that all mines in Goa have been functioning without valid leases. This is the same mine where Dora, Sheryl, Karush, Sebastian, Fr.Mathias Protested and few others- were beaten up by mining truck drivers under the direction of mining Contractor Subhas Phaldesai and arrested on October 11, 2008. The first account of Fr.Mathias is available here. Another account by Sebastian is also available.

Bharat Mukti Morcha hold that the act of blocking mining transportation by Cavrem villagers is correct and Police has acted only to fulfill the combined will of the mining companies and the Chief Minister who in any case is heading Bamon Raj government that believed in scant respect for mulnivasis like Adivasis of Cavrem, their livestock, forest and paddy fields.

Amongst the arrested 34 are 10 women and as per report received till midnight were not served any food or water in police custody at Quepem Police station, Quepem.

Shah Commission has pointed out the robbery of Rs.35,000 crore through mining trade. Public Accountability Committee headed by then Leader of the Opposition Mr.Manohar Parrikar has marshaled evidence of illegal mining export of 85 million tones and Rs.3,400 crore loss to the State treasury. Mr.Parrikar however after taking over as Chief Minister has not acted on his own report nor has he recovered Rs.3,400 crore looted by mining companies. He has also avoided any actions to nail those responsible for the illegal export of 85 million tones of iron ore from Goa. What Mr.Manohar Parrikar has provided for Goa is ethically bad leadership for Goa with active promotion of black money and corruption just like his predecessor Digambar Kamat. The rightful place for both these Bamons is behind the bars. They are moving scot free and troubling entire state of Goa only because they are Bamons heading Bamon Raj committed to loot and plunder of Goa.

Bharat Mukti Morcha is of the studied opinion that mining in legal as well as illegal way is not sustainable in Goa and every effort must be made to rid Goa of mining curse.

Bharat Mukti Morcha also strongly object to the Department of mines trying to create fear amongst public that protests against mining is a contempt of Supreme Court Judgement in Goa Foundation versus Union of India dated April 21, 2014 on mining in Goa. This judgement is already criticized.

Bharat Mukti Morcha congratulates Cavrem villagers for their bold action in defense of life that is threatened by mining companies.

Scandal at Dr.Ambedkar English High School exposed

20th April 2014 Herald featured this article about the corruption of school management and and harassment at highly intense manner. It is also featured in the article that this School - Dr. Ambedkar English High School, Mapusa, Goa was meant for the welfare of the ST/SC and OBC communities. Truly tragic events described in the article can take place under the active support from the Education department of Goa Government. This is a state of education in the Bamon Raj administration of Goa Government.

Evidence of Golf Course project in Vanxim

The Joint Development Agreement of 11th August 2009 presented at the office of the sub-registrar, Panjim bearing serial number 2066 leaves undisputed evidence that the purpose for which Mahendra Gaunekar has entered in traction of sale of Vanxim to Ozone Leisure and Resorts Private Limited is for the purpose of construction of Golf Course, hotels, Spa, Club House, resort. This was denied several times by Bamon Mahendra Gaunekar to bluff protesting People of Goa. The following two paragraphs provides evidence that Vanxim is sort to be destroyed and over there Golf Course is to be built. The lying is permitted practice for Bamons as per their Constitution called Manusmriti, a document of enslavement of mulnivasis.

"And whereas the Second Party acting on and pursuant tothe above representation has imparted the Scheduled Property and after working out the details have agreed to develop, at their own cost and expense, the Scheduled Property by constructing an integrated Resort with Villas, infrastructure, etc and delivering 16.7% of the total sale-able super built area in the villas, being the Development phase I.

Further the Second Party here in shall be free to develop the rest of the land available minus of the Development phase I above with any third Parties into a Golf Course, Club House, Hotels, Spa, resort, etc., being Development Phase II and the First Party herein shall not object to the same. The First Party shall be entitled to 16.7% of the Second Party's share of development Phase II, in return, for the First Party fulfilling his obligations under this Joint Development Agreement in a timely manner and Transferring and conveying 83.3% of the undivided share in the land of the entire Schedule Property either in favour of the Second Party or its nominee/s. The development on the Schedule Property shall be as per the details, specifications and plans to be prepared by the Second Party."

Bamon Raj is responsible for whatever is planned as per the above Joint Development Agreement for Vanxim. Nearly 7 Golf courses were stalled due to public protests in the decade of 1990s all over Goa.

List of Scams in India

Total Scam Money (approx) Since 1992 : Rs. 73000000000000  (73 Lakh Crore) Goa's mining Scam of Rs. 35,000 crore and Vanxim island sale scam of Rs. 1,200 crore by Archbishops Gonsalves and Neri, Scam of unknown crores at Dr.Ambedkar English High School, Mapusa by diverting funds meant for education, extorting money from teachers and other corrupt practices ably protected by Goa government's education department is not included in this list.

Hard to digest ? Just check the below given details

·                     1992 -Harshad Mehta Securities scam Rs 5,000 cr

·                     1994 - Sugar import scam Rs 650 cr

·                     1995 -Preferential allotment scam Rs 5,000 cr
            - Yugoslav Dinar scam Rs 400 cr
            - Meghalaya Forest scam Rs 300 cr

·                     1996: -Fertiliser import scam Rs 1,300 cr
            - Urea scam Rs 133 cr
            - Bihar fodder scam Rs 950 cr

·                     1997 -Sukh Ram telecom scam Rs 1,500 cr
            - SNC Lavalin power project scam Rs 374 cr
            - Bihar land scandal Rs 400 cr
            - C.R. Bhansali stock scam Rs 1,200 cr

·                     1998 - Teak plantation swindle Rs 8,000 cr

·                     2001 -UTI scam Rs 4,800 cr
            - Dinesh Dalmia stock scam Rs 595 cr
            - Ketan Parekh securities scam Rs 1,250 cr

·                     2002 -Sanjay Agarwal Home Trade scam Rs 600 cr

·                     2003 -Telgi stamp paper scam Rs 172 cr

·                     2005 -IPO-Demat scam Rs 146 cr
            - Bihar flood relief scam Rs 17 cr
            - Scorpene submarine scam Rs 18,978 cr

·                     2006 - Punjab 's City Centre project scam Rs 1,500 cr,
            - Taj Corridor scam Rs 175 cr

·                     2008 -Pune billionaire Hassan Ali Khan tax default Rs 50,000 cr
            - The Satyam scam Rs 10,000 cr
            - Army ration pilferage scam Rs 5,000 cr
            - The 2-G spectrum swindle Rs 60,000 cr
            - State Bank of Saurashtra scam Rs 95 cr
            - Illegal monies in Swiss banks, as estimated in 2008 Rs 71,00,000 cr

·                     2009: -The Jharkhand medical equipment scam Rs 130 cr
            - Rice export scam Rs 2,500 cr
            - Orissa mine scam Rs 7,000 cr
            - Madhu Koda mining scam Rs 4,000 cr"

SC refuses to quash PIL against Mayawati in Taj corridor scam

Orissa mine scam could be worth more than Rs 14k cr

CORRUPTION, MONEY LAUNDERING SCAM, Koda discharged from hospital, arrest imminent

'A Cover-Up Operation': "It's a scam involving close to Rs 60,000 crores"
Spectrum scam: How government lost Rs 60,000 crore

1.            India's biggest scams 1, Ramalinga Raju, Rs. 50.4 billion

2.            India's biggest scams 2, Harshad Mehta, Rs. 40 billion

3.            India's biggest scams 3, Ketan Parekh, Rs. 10 billion

4.            India's biggest scams 4, C R Bhansali, Rs. 12 billion

5.            India's biggest scams 5, Cobbler scam

6.            India's biggest scams 6, IPO Scam

7.            India's biggest scams 7, Dinesh Dalmia, Rs. 5.95 billion

8.            India's biggest scams 8, Abdul Karim Telgi, Rs. 1.71 billion

9.            India's biggest scams 9, Virendra Rastogi, Rs. 430 million

10.         India's biggest scams 10, The UTI Scam, Rs. 320 million

11.         India's biggest scams 11, Uday Goyal, Rs. 2.1 billion

12.         India's biggest scams 12, Sanjay Agarwal, Rs. 6 billion

13.         India's biggest scams 13, Dinesh Singhania, Rs. 1.2 billion

1, Jeep Purchase (1948) :- Free India's corruption graph begins. V. K. Krishna Menon, then the Indian high commission to Britain , bypassed protocol to sign a deal worth Rs 80 lakh with a foreign firm for the purchase of army jeeps. The case was closed in 1955 and soon after Menon joined the Nehru cabinet.

2, Cycle Imports (1951) :- S.A. Venkataraman, then the secretary, ministry of commerce and industry, was jailed for accepting a bribe in lieu of granting a cycle import quota to a company.

3, BHU Funds (1956) :- In one of the first instances of corruption in education institutions, Benaras Hindu University officials were accused of misappropriation of funds worth Rs 50 lakh.

4, MUNDHRA SCANDAL (1957):- It was the media that first hinted there might be a scam involving the sale of shares to LIC, Feroz Gandhi sources the confidential correspondence between the then Finance Minister T.T. Krishnamachari and his principal finances secretary, and raised a question in Parliament on the sale of 'fraudulent' shares to LIC by a Calcutta-based Marwari businessman named Haridas Mundhra. The then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, set up a one-man commission headed by Justice M.C.Chagla to investigate the matter when it becomes evident that there was a prima facie case. Chagla concluded that Mundhra had sold fictitious shares to LIC, thereby defrauding the insurance behemoth to the tune of Rs. 1.25 crore. Mundhra was sentenced to 22 years in prison. The scam also forced the resignation of T.T.Krishnamachari.

6, Teja Loans (1960):- Shipping magnate Jayant Dharma Teja took loans worth Rs 22 crore to establish the Jayanti Shipping Company. In 1960, the authorities discovered that he was actually siphoning off money to his own account, after which Teja fled the country.

7, Kairon Scam (1963):- Pratap Singh Kairon became the first Indian chief minister to be accused of abusing his power for his own benefit and that of his sons and relatives. He quit a year later.

8, Patnaik's Own Goal (1965) :- Orissa Chief Minister Biju Patnaik was forced to resign after it was discovered that he had favoured his privately-held company Kalinga Tubes in awarding a government contract.

9, Maruti Scandal (1974) :- Well before the company was set up, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's name came up in the first Maruti scandal, where her son Sanjay Gandhi was favoured with a license to make passenger cars.

10, Solanki Exposé (1992) :- At the World Economic Forum, Madhavsinh Solanki, then the external affairs minister, slipped a letter to his Swiss counterpart asking their government to stop the probe into the Bofors kickbacks. Solanki resigned when India Today broke the story.

11, Kuo Oil Deal (1976):- The Indian Oil Corporation signed an Rs 2.2-crore oil contract with a non-existent firm in Hong Kong and a kickback was given. The petroleum and chemicals minister was directed to make the purchase.

12, Antulay Trust (1981) :- With the exposure of this scandal concerning A.R. Antulay, then the chief minister of Maharashtra , The Indian Express was reborn. Antulay had garnered Rs 30 crore from businesses dependent on state resources like cement and kept the money in a private trust.

13, HDW Commissions (1987) :- HDW, the German submarine maker, was blacklisted after allegations that commissions worth Rs 20 crore had been paid. In 2005, the case was finally closed, in HDW's favour.

14, Bofors Pay-Off (1987) :- A Swedish firm was accused of paying Rs 64 crore to Indian bigwigs, including Rajiv Gandhi, then the prime minister, to secure the purchase of the Bofors gun.

15, St Kitts Forgery (1989) :- An attempt was made to sully V.P. Singh's Mr Clean image by forging documents to allege that he was a beneficiary of his son Ajeya Singh's account in the First Trust Corp. at St Kitts, with a deposit of $21 million.

16, Airbus Scandal (1990) :- Indian Airlines's (IA) signing of the Rs 2,000-crore deal with Airbus instead of Boeing caused a furore following the crash of an A-320. New planes were grounded, causing IA a weekly loss of Rs 2.5 crore.

17, Securities Scam (1992) :- Harshad Mehta manipulated banks to siphon off money and invested the funds in the stock market, leading to a crash. The loss: Rs 5,000 crore.

18, Indian Bank Rip-off (1992) :- Aided by M. Gopalakrishnan, then the chairman of the Indian Bank, borrowers-mostly small corporates and exporters from the south-were lent a total of over Rs 1,300 crore, which they never paid back.

19, Sugar Import (1994) :- As food minister, Kalpnath Rai presided over the import of sugar at a price higher than that of the market, causing a loss of Rs 650 crore to the exchequer. He resigned following the allegations.

20, MS SHOES SCAM (1994) :- Anyone who war old enough in 1994 to read will remember the advertisements- tens of them intriguingly headlined: 'Who is Pawan Sachdeva?' For the record, it was the peak of the public issued-led advertising boom and the ads were created by the Delhi branch of Rediffusion. Sachdeva, the promoter of MS Shoes, allegedly used company funds to buy shares (of his own company) and rig prices, prior to a public issue. He is alleged to have colluded with officials in the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and SBI Caps, which lead-managed the issue, to dupe the public into investing in his Rs. 699-crore public-***-rights issue. Sachdeva was later acquitted

21, JMM Bribes (1995) :- Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shailendra Mahato testified that he and three party members received bribes of Rs 30 lakh to bail out the P.V. Narasimha Rao government in the 1993 no-confidence motion.

22, In a Pickle (1996) :- Pickle baron Lakhubhai Pathak raised a stink when he accused former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and godman Chandraswami of accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from him for securing a paper pulp contract.

23, Telecom Scam (1996) :- Former minister of state for communication Sukh Ram was accused of causing a loss of Rs 1.6 crore to the exchequer by favouring a Hyderabad- based private firm in the purchase of telecom equipment. He, along with two others, was convicted in 2002.

24, Fodder Scam (1996) :- The accountant general's concerns about the withdrawal of excess funds by Bihar's animal husbandry department unveiled a Rs 950-crore scam involving Lalu Prasad Yadav, then the state chief minister. He resigned a year later.

25, Urea Deal (1996) :- C.S. Ramakrishnan, MD, National Fertiliser, and a group of businessmen close to the P.V. Narasimha Rao regime fleeced the government and took Rs 133 crore from the import of two lakh tonne of urea, which was never delivered.

26, Hawala Diaries (1996) :- The scandal surfaced following CBI raids on hawala operators in Delhi in 1991. But it was S.K. Jain's diaries that had heads rolling.

27, CRB SCAM (1997) :- Another scam forged by greed and discovered through accident. Chain Roop Bhansali, a smart-talking entrepreneur, created a pyramid financial empire based on high-cost financing. At its peak, his Rs. 1,000-crore financial conglomerate had in its ranks a mutual fund, a financial services company into fixed deposits, and a merchant bank. That Bhansali knew how to work the system became evident when he also managed to secure a provisional banking license. Then his luck ran out. An executive in the State Bank of India Inadvertently discovered that some interest warrants issued by Bhansali were not backed by cash. The bubble finally burst in May 1997, but by that time investors had lost over Rs. 1,000 crore. This was among the first retail scams in India and it was played out, in smaller avatars, across the country-especially in the South where financial services companies promised returns in excess of 20 per cent and decamped with the principal. Bhansali was arrested for a few weeks and released later on bail.

28, MEHTA'S SECOND COMING (1998) :- The Big Bull returned to the bourses. This time, he allegedly colluded with the promoters of BPL, Videocon International, and Sterile Industries to rig the share prices of these companies. The inevitable collapse happened sooner than planned, Harshad Mehta orchestrated a cover-up operation that included a high=jinks effort by officials of Bombay Stock Exchange to (illegally ) open the trading system in the middle of the night to set things right, but the damage had been done. SEBI finally passed its ruling on the scam in 2001, banning the three companies concerned from tapping the market-BPL, for two years. Mehta was debarred for life form dealing in Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in October 2001

29, VANISHING COMPANIES SCAM (1998) :- A passing remark heard by then Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram resulted in a furore over what was badly-kept secret on Dalal street . Chidambaram was told that hundreds of companies had disappeared after raising moneys form the public. An informal scrutiny revealed that perhaps over 600 companies were missing. Chidambaram ordered a probe by SEBI. The SEBI probe conducted in May 1998 revealed that while many companies are not traded on the bourses at least 80 companies that had rises Rs.330.78 crore were simply missing. Later that year, the Department of Company Affairs (DCA) was asked to probe and penalize these companies. DCA still investigating. Investigations continue to this day.

30, PLANTATION COMPANIES SCAM (1999) :- It was as innovative a swindle as any effected in the world. Savvy entrepreneurs convinced gullible investors that given the right irrigation and fertilizer inputs, teak, strawberries, and anything else that could be grown, would grow anywhere in the country. The promoters could afford to collect money from investors and not worry about retribution (or returns, for that matter). For, plantation companies fell under the purview of neither SEBI nor Reserve Bank of India . Indeed, they didn't even come under the scope of the Department decided to change things in 1999, enough investors had been gulled: 653 companies, between them, had raised Rs. 2,563 crore from investors. To date, not many investors have got their principals back, just another affirmation of the old saying about money not growing on trees.

31, Match Fixing (2000) :- Mohammed Azharuddin, till then India's cricket captain, was accused of match-fixing. He and Ajay Sharma were banned from playing, while Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar were suspended for five years.

32, KETAN PAREKH SCAM (2001) :- Ketan Parekh's modus operandi wasn't very different from Harshad Mehta's. If Mehta used banker's receipts, then Parekh used pay orders to ramp up the prices of his favourite scrips (the K-10). Apart from money form the banking system Parekh also rerouted money from corporated like HFCL (Rs. 425 crore), and Zee (Rs. 340 crore) to good effect. He was caught when pay-orders issued by Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank bounced. Although the total amount involved in the scam was just Rs. 137 crore, the impact was far greater.

Apparently, when a bear cartel sensed Parekh was in trouble, it stepped in and leveraged a dip in the NASDAQ to bear down stock prices. The resultant slump in the markets happened soon after Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha presented what he considered his best budget ever. Under pressure from the government, SEBI investigated the scam and heads began to roll. Among them: the entire management team of BSE, including its president Anand Rathi, CSFB, First Global, and, in an indirect connection, P.S.Subramanyam, the Chairman of UTL Evidently, for the 18 months that PSS was Chairman of UTI, the Trust had mirrored the actions of the bull cartel. The result? When the market tanked, so did the NAV of its holy cow, the US-64.

33, Tehelka Sting (2001) :- Tehelka, an online news portal, used spycams to catch army officers and politicians accepting bribes, in their sting operation called Operation Westend. Investigative journalism turned another corner in the country.

34, Stockmarket Scam (2001) :- The mayhem that wiped off over Rs 1,15,000 crore in the markets in March 2001 was masterminded by the Pentafour bull Ketan Parekh. He was arrested in December 2002 and banned from acccessing the capital market for 14 years.

35, Home Trade Scam (2002) :- Under the pretext of gilt trading, Rs 600 crore was swindled from over 25 cooperative banks in Maharashtra and Gujarat by a Navi Mumbai-based brokerage firm Home Trade. Sanjay Agarwal, CEO of the firm, was arrested in May 2002.

36, Stamp Paper Scam (2003) :- The sheer magnitude of the racket was shocking-it caused a loss of Rs 30,000 crore to the exchequer. Disclosures of the mastermind behind it, Abdul Karim Telgi, implicated top police officers and bureaucrats.

37, Oil-for-Food Scandal (2005) :- K. Natwar Singh was unceremoniously dropped from the Cabinet when his name surfaced in the Volcker Report on the Iraq oil-for-food scam.

What India Could Do With Rs 73 Lakh Crore?

·                     Build: 2.4 crore primary healthcare centres. That’s at least 3 for every village,        at a cost of Rs 30 lakh each.

·                     Build: 24.1 lakh Kendriya Vidyalayas at a cost of Rs 3.02 crore each, with two      sections from Class VI to XII.

·                     Construct: 14.6 crore low-cost houses assuming a cost of Rs 5 lakh a unit.           Set up: 2,703 coal-based power plants of 600 MW each. Each costs Rs 2,700       crore.

·                     Supply: 12 lakh CFL bulbs. That’s enough light for each of India ’s 6 lakh             villages

·                     Construct: 14.6 lakh km of two-lane highways. That’s a road around India ’s         perimeter 97 times over.

·                     Clean up: 50 major rivers for the next 121 years, at Rs 1,200 crore a river   every year.

·                     Launch: 90 NREGA-style schemes, each worth roughly Rs 81,111 crore. Announce: 121 more loan waiver schemes. All of them worth Rs 60,000 crore.

·                     Give: Rs 56,000 to every Indian. Even better, give Rs 1.82 lakh to 40 crore             Indians living BPL.

·                     Hand out: 60.8 crore Tata Nanos to 60.8 crore people. Or four times as many        laptops.

·                     Grow the GDP: The scam money is 27% more than our GDP of Rs 53 lakh           crore."

Greed, graft, politics, bribery, dirty money. Just another day in the life of a nation still rated among the most corrupt in the world. Scan the scams that have grabbed headlines, destroyed reputations and left many mulnivasi people poorer and many Eurresian Bamons and their allies richer.