CBI brings relief to Maneka Gandhi

Maneka Gandhi can heave a sigh of relief. The CBI has cleared Gandhi of criminal charges that she diverted government funds to the Gandhi Rural Welfare Trust (GRWT) during her tenure as Union minister of social welfare and justice. Her sister, Ambika Shukla, was chairperson of the trust.

The case dates back to 2005 when the CBI filed a police complaint against Gandhi for allegedly diverting funds from her ministry and the MPLAD scheme to GRWT.

The CBI found out that Gandhi had written a letter to the Pilibhit district magistrate in 2000 asking him to find land for a nursing school that the trust wanted to set up. The trust moved an application in 2001 seeking Rs218 lakh to set up the nursing college in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh.

Gandhi also sanctioned the purchase of five ambulances from her MPLAD fund for the college. The NGO was given Rs10.40 lakh and the ambulances were purchased.

Four years passed since the complaint was filed but the probe made no progress forcing the CBI to close the case. In its closure report, the CBI noted that funds given to the NGO had been utilised and
no evidence of irregularities was found.