Author: Raoji

In 1996, the Central Bureau of Investigation began pursuing a 1993 bribery case in which members of the Congress-led ruling alliance allegedly paid the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to help defeat a no-confidence vote and keep the government intact. In the course of that investigation, the CBI questioned Brijnath Safaya, the additional private secretary to Captain Satish Sharma, the minister of petroleum at the time the joint ventures were awarded.

In a statement recorded by inspector Harish Sharma, and reported by Outlook, Safaya claimed that in the months before the contracts were awarded he had been at Satish Sharma’s house to receive suitcases stuffed with roughly Rs 13 crore. He also said that frequent visitors to the house included Mukesh Ambani, and the heads of other private companies whose bids were eventually successful. Reliance, Safaya told the CBI, sent Sharma a total of Rs 4 crore through one S Raman in 1993—Rs 1 crore in June, Rs 1 crore in October and Rs 2 crore in December. The heads of Essar and Videocon also allegedly sent cash. At least some of this money is thought to have been routed to the JMM. (Safaya later retracted his statement.)-from Caravan