CBI probe against Parrikar in final stages, RS told

 NEW DELHI, NOV 11
The Central Bureau of Investigation’s probe against former  chief minister Manohar Parrikar of BJP for alleged corruption and irregularities in the 2004 International Film Festival of India (IFFI), is in final stages, the Rajya Sabha was told on Thursday.
 In a written reply to MP Shantaram Naik, Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy, however, said “no definite time-frame can be indicated at this stage for filing the charge sheet.”
 He said no arrests have been made so far in the case registered three years ago. The CBI has recorded statements of 58 witnesses in the case and technical inspection of the sites has been carried out by the CBI officers, along with the officials of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), the minister said.
The CBI had registered the case in 2007 under sections 409, 421, 423, 431, 432, 463, 468, 471 & 120B of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sec 10 & 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 against Parrikar and others.
Investigations are taking time since the agency has to carry out an enormous task of the probe spread over Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangaluru and other places,
Naik, who has been pursuing the case by putting questions in almost every session, was told by then MoS for Personnel Prithviraj Chavan in reply to one of his questions that the CBI has to carry out probe into as many as 22 allegations levelled in the case.
As such, it required collection of voluminous documents of various departments, examination of a large number of witnesses and suspects including contractors, consultations and officials of the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), the nodal agency for the IFFI project, as well as the Entertainment Society of Goa.
The probe also involved inspections by various technical authorities, Chavan said in his written reply given in the Rajya Sabha on April 15.