A special court for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases on Friday ordered “further investigation” in a case involving the son of a former Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police and directed the CBI to appoint an officer in the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police to probe the matter.
The case relates to a loan taken by 45 employees of M/s PAN Softek Solutions Ltd, a firm managed by Shreyas Sripal, son of former DGP S. Sripal, from Canara Bank, Nungambakkam branch, here in 2006.
The allegation is that sanction for the loan, to the tune of ₹90 lakh, was obtained on the basis of fake documents, including forged IT returns, salary slips and identity cards.
After investigating the case for more than a decade, the CBI filed a charge sheet naming some accused persons and dropping action against 10 others, including Mr. Shreyas.
No explanation was given in the investigation report as to why their names were dropped in the final report.
Dismissing a discharge petition moved by one of the bank officials accused in the case, XIth additional special judge for CBI cases, K. Venkatasamy, pointed to flaws in the investigation and wondered how the investigation officer excluded Mr. Shreyas from the charge sheet by merely relying on a statement given by him that the handwriting and signatures on the loan documents were not his.
Instead of referring the handwriting or signature to document experts for verification, the investigator opted to make Mr. Shreyas a witness in the case.
In his discharge petition, the bank official alleged that the CBI had not given any reason for dropping the names of Mr. Shreyas and nine others which raised doubts over the credibility of the investigation. Pointing to a few contradictions in the FIR and the chargesheet, the petitioner said he had no criminal intention to commit any act which would constitute the alleged offence. The bank did not have any system or process to verify the genuineness of documents vouched by the employees of the company, he said.
Mr. Venkatasamy said though the court was empowered to include the names of those left out in the chargesheet in the case, it would only be prudent for the investigating agency to conduct further investigation and gather more evidence to render justice in the case. The investigation would be complete only when the handwriting or signature of the main accused person was verified thoroughly.
The judge pointed to a portion of the complaint lodged by Canara Bank to the CBI in which it was stated that Mr. Shreyas and T.P. Anand were directors of M/s PAN Softek Solutions Ltd., Chennai, and the company functioned for only six months. “The salary certificates, Form 16 certificates and Mandate given by the employer were signed by Shreyas Sripal…both the directors were actively involved in obtaining loans for their purported employees.”
Mr. Venkatasamy said further investigation in the case should be completed by an officer in the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police under the direct supervision of the Superintendent of Police within four months.
