Everyone is rushing to banks to deposit or exchange demonetised currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 denominations. One Government wing, despite knowing that the currency notes would go waste if not changed now or in next few weeks, is unable to make any move.
That is the strange situation of Anti-Corruption Bureau — the only State agency feared by corrupt government employees — has landed in following the Centre’s ban on currency notes of these two denominations. In the past several years, the ACB had seized crores of rupees after catching government employees red-handed in trap cases. Officials are not sure of the exact amount seized in all the trap cases registered so far but estimate it could be several crores of rupees.
Cash is seized by ACB officials in two types of cases. After gathering ‘prima facie’ evidence that a government employee had amassed wealth illegally, they conduct raids and seize cash and other valuables. This cash is deposited in the banks and in safe custody of bankers. But they are not sure what will happen to the money seized in trap cases. They believe, in all likelihood, this money estimated to be several crores of rupees would go waste. When a Government employee demands bribe, the sum is paid to him by the complainant. Within seconds or minutes of the person handing over the bribe sum, the ACB officials -already lying in wait- would turn up and catch the accused.
“In trap cases, these currency notes become clinching evidence to prove the employee is guilty. Number of each and every note is noted before being handed over to the employee,” an ACB officer explained. The investigators deposit the same as material evidence in the court.
“The bribe sum varies from case to case. In some cases, it is a few hundred but in some instances employees were caught while accepting more than a lakh of rupees,” the ACB officials said. Officials are exploring options to get the banned currency exchanged in compliance with legal formalities.
