New Delhi, March 23 The CBI has booked Sanjeev Hans, the then private secretary to former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, on suspicion of taking a Rs 1-crore bribe from a Mumbai-based realtor in 2019 for extending favours from the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC), officials said Monday.
In its FIR, the CBI has also named one Vipul Bansal, working for a real estate company RNA Corporation and alleged to be a "friend" of Hans; Anubhav Agarwal, one of the promoters of the company; and its sister concern East & West Builders, among others, in the alleged bribery case, they said.
Contacted for comments, Hans's lawyer, Changez Khan, termed the CBI allegations "false and baseless".
"It is further learnt that Vipul Bansal, a private person, who happens to be a friend of Sanjeev Hans and is associated with RNA Corporation, (company dealing in real estate business) approached the latter to get favourable orders from National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) in a builder-buyer dispute of East & West Builders (sister concern of RNA Corporation) and its promoters. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India, is the Nodal Ministry for NCDRC," the FIR alleged.
Paswan was the then minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution.
The CBI also learnt that Bansal arranged a meeting between Hans, who is a 1997-batch IAS officer from Bihar, and Agarwal. During the meeting, Agarwal agreed to pay a bribe of Rs 1 crore to Hans to obtain favourable orders from the NCDRC in the matter of East & West Builders.
It is also learnt that Hans secured two separate dates from the NCDRC bench in favour of East & West Builders and also managed "the non-arrest of Mrs Saranga Agarwal, Promoter and Director of East & West Builders", the agency has alleged in the FIR.
In lieu of the favours extended by Hans, an amount of Rs 1 crore was paid by Agarwal to him through Bansal, the FIR has alleged.
"It is further learnt that the said bribe amount of Rs 1 crore was paid in tranches through Shadab Khan and Pushpraj Bajaj, both associates of Sanjeev Hans.
"Sanjeev Hans had shared the mobile numbers of Shadab Khan and Pushpraj Bajaj with Vipul Bansal to facilitate the transfer of the bribe amount," the FIR has alleged.