CBI books, raids former top govt secy, daughter for taking ‘big amounts’ as bribe

cbi books, raids former top govt secy, daughter for taking ‘big amounts’ as bribe

Ramesh Abhishek , a 1982-batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, has been booked under prevention of corruption act and criminal conspiracy charges for allegedly taking “big amounts” from organisations while working for the government.

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday raided the premises of Ramesh Abhishek, former secretary of the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT), after registering a case against him for indulging in corrupt activities while heading the department and Forward Market Commission (FMC), people familiar with the development said.

The 1982-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Bihar cadre, who retired from the service in 2019, has been booked along with his daughter, Vanessa Agrawal, under prevention of corruption act and criminal conspiracy charges for allegedly taking “big amounts” from organisations while being in the department.

He headed DPIIT from 2016 to 2019.

The agency filed a first information report (FIR) against Abhishek and his daughter on February 15 based on a December 2023 reference from the Lokpal – the anti-corruption authority that looks into corruption complaints against public servants — which asked the CBI to look into his “doubtful transactions”.

“Lokpal has directed CBI to conduct investigation into doubtful transactions entered into by Ramesh Abhishek and his daughter Vanessa Agrawal by way of receiving big amounts as professional fee or consulting fee from various entities or organisations with whom Ramesh Abhishek had official dealings while he was secretary DPIIT or Chairman (of) Forward Market Commission.” CBI alleges in its FIR, seen by HT.

The agency further claims that Abhishek invested “amounts in property E-72, Greater Kailash-II, New Delhi, which were outcome of doubtful sudden rise in earlier investments of family in immovable properties or sudden increase in business income in short period”.

People familiar with the developments said that before superannuating, Abhishek was part of crucial initiatives including implementation of Make in India, Startup India, liberalisation of government’s foreign direct investment (FDI) policies as well as formulation of policies related to ease of doing business.

He joined Paytm Payments Bank Ltd as an independent director after retirement.

Paytm is currently under the scanner of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The latter has sought details from the RBI on the suspected breaches in the Paytm Payments Bank, but the federal probe agency is yet to file any case against the company, according to the people familiar with the developments.

HT has reached out to Ramesh Abhishek for a comment but there was no response till filing of this report.

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