Column

It’s the slip between the cup and the lip that makes for a scandal. The curious case of the export of over one lakh tonnes of pulses last year despite a government ban is threatening to turn into a scandal of massive proportions because of one such slip.

Investigators have found that the commerce ministry issued the ban notification five days after the Union cabinet decided to prohibit the export of dals in a bid to control spiralling prices.

And in those vital five days, a flurry of Letters of Credit were opened, all in one day, in a single overseas bank. Normally, action is taken on a cabinet decision the same day, or at the very latest, the next day. The five-day delay seems to have provided a window for unscrupulous manipulation.

*******************************

The slip would have been buried in government files but for Lalu Yadav’s vigilant eye. He raised it at a stormy cabinet meeting some months later when the price rise issue had begun to pinch politically. Why was there a delay in the ban notification, he fumed at Kamal Nath.

The commerce minister was at a loss for words, for once. His only defence was to suggest a CBI probe to get at the truth. That's how the CBI was brought into the picture. Investigators have tracked down three prominent exporters in the city and booked them for cheating and forgery.

But the real issue — the delay in the notification — is still to be probed. Meanwhile, the muck has hit the fan in the commerce ministry amid mounting fears that some lowly official is going to take the rap for the ‘real’ culprits.

Some senior officers have threatened to go on leave, others are believed to have met the PM with their version of events. According to the bureaucratic grapevine, Nath is on the lookout for a replacement for commerce secretary GK Pillai because of the turmoil.

*******************************

Ironically, the first tip-off came from US intelligence which has started monitoring all international dollar transactions after 9/11 for links to terrorist groups. The LCs for the export of pulses showed up on the American radar because of the abnormally large amount of money involved (initial reports put the figure at Rs. 250 cr).

US intelligence immediately informed its Indian counterparts and the Department of Revenue Intelligence swung into action. This is the third scam unearthed after a tip-off from the US.

The first related to a huge transaction in a London bank which was later traced to a commission on a power project. The second was the suspicious deposits in a Swiss bank which led to Pune stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan who is now being investigated for links to money laundering operations. India's seamy underbelly had better be careful. Uncle Sam is watching.

*******************************

Tailpiece
It was almost like old times at LK Advani's house the other day. The proud father hosted a special screening of daughter Pratibha's television film, Vande Mataram, a collection of old Hindi film songs. Top bureaucrats associated with the NDA government were among the guests, including former cabinet secretary Kamal Pandey and two former IB directors, Ajit Doval and K P Singh.

A surprise guest was J & K governor Gen. S K Sinha, an NDA appointee but retained by the UPA government. With a couple of months left for his tenure to end, maybe Sinha felt it was a good time to catch up with old friends.

Email:a_jerath@dnaindia.net