Scams and Scandals during the

Congress rule since Independence

Introduction:
Congress is synonymous of corruption and Mahatma Gandhi knew power will corrupt
congressmen and had advised them to close down the party.
Corruption like water flows from top to bottom, it degenerates the entire system.
We have tried to list few major scams and scandals under Congress rule right from days of
Nehru.
1. Congress Minister received bribe and Sardar Patel, then
union Home Minister had ordered arrest of a minister of
state for demanding and receiving a bribe.
2. First Finance Minister resigned. Why?

Independent India’s first finance minister, R.K. Shanmukham Chetty

resigned for deleting the names of the companies (close to congress)
from a list of companies to be investigated for tax evasion.
3. Keshav Dev Malviya had to quit. Why?

Keshav Dev Malviya had to quit after it was discovered

that he received bribe from dubious mine owners in Orissa.
4.Jeep Scam in 1947?

When Pakistan attacked Kashmir, .K. Krishna Menon, India’s High Commissioner
to Britain, placed hefty order on dubious company of 4603 jeeps which were of
poor quality and had landed long after the ceasefire had been signed.
Ananthasayanam Iyengar Committee submitted its report in 1951, which indicted
Krishna Menon. Instead of taking any action Nehru appointed him a Cabinet
Minister without portfolio and later as defense Minister.
5. Gems Graft in 1949
Rao Shiv Bahadur Singh, Industry Minister was caught
finding bribe of Rs.25000 for renewing a gem’s trader
lease on Panna Diamond mines.
6. Cycle part Racket in 1951

Union Industry and commerce Secretary S.A Venkatraman

awarded entire import quota for cycle parts to single
company with dubious record on instructions of his bosses
in the cabinet. He was sentenced three years imprisonment.
7. The Mundhra Rip-off in 1957
Kanpur entrepreneur Haridas Mundhra made LIC lend him Rs. 1 Crore, pick up
shares in his firms to boost their prices due to his proximity with then Finance
Minister. Both were found guilty and T.T. Krishnamachari then Finance minister
tendered his resignation, but later on Nehru personally gave him clean chit and
brought him back in cabinet.
8. The Teja Caper in 1962
Jayanti Dharma Teja set up a shipping company with paid up capital
less than 200 and a Rs. 22 Crore government loan due to his
proximity to Nehru. Advance payment from customers went to his
Liechtenstein bank account and he siphoned off entire money. He
was arrested in 1970 in London and sentenced to six years, but
escaped from custody and his whereabouts are still not known.
9. Kairon indicted by Daas commission in 1964

Kairon a close confidant of Nehru was inducted by Dass

Commission for allowing family members to amass wealth
through dubious ways, he was not arrested and on public
pressure was just made to resign.
We have discussed Nehru Era and Now we shall discuss
Indira Era which broke all previous records.

10. The Nagarwala Scam in 1971

Former Army officer Rustom Sohrab Nagarwala was accussed of calling up state bank of
India’s cashier faking Indira Gandhi’s voice & withdrawing Rs. 60 Lacks from the bank.
Nagarwala who was arrested died in police custody The episode remains a mystery & no
enquiry was ordered in spite of seriousness of the issue.
11. Tul Mohan Ram Con in 1974
Pondicherry merchants submitted a petition with forged signatures of 21 MP’s to
the Union Commerce Ministry seeking import licenses. The alleged forger was Tul
Mohan Ram, MP working at the behest of Indira Gandhi’s closed aide Lalit
Narayan Mishra. Mishra died in Samastipur bomb blast in1975 and since
emergency was imposed, issue was quietly buried.
12. Alleged use on animal tallow in Dalda
The people of India were shocked when they came to know alleged
use of animal tallow in Dalda. Several cases were instituted against
the perpetrators of this heinous crime but to their closeness with
Indira Gandhi they were set free.
13. The Cement Scam
In the cement scam A.R Antulay, the then CM of Maharashtra, had
allegedly collected Crore of rupees in the name of fictitious trusts
involving the name of Indira Gandhi. Ultimately he was acquitted
due to his closeness with Mrs. Gandhi.
14. The Coal Scam of 80s
This was one of the biggest scam since Independence which included N.D Tiwari,
A.B.A Ghani Khan Chowdhury, Z.R. Ansari ran coal mafia with the active
connivance of cabinet. They funneled off high grade coal from the collieries of
public sector Coal India, with 2 Crore exchanging hands everyday said Coal India
Chairman and MD B.L Wadhera.
15. Bundles of Scams and scandals one after the other
a) Kuo Oil Deal
b) Tripude marks Scams
c) Westland Helicopters scandal
d) Kosi Project Scandal
e) Maruti Scam
f) Fraud in Food Corporation of India
g) Vasantrao Naik’s land reclamation Scam
Now we shall discuss post Indira Scams
16. The Jaguar Deal- Bribe of 118 Crores
When the order to buy planes from Jaguar was cancelled in favour of
Mirage, Jaguar had to pay 10% of the total cost of 1180 crores for
the reversal of Government’s decision.

17. The Submarine Scandal

The irregularities in the HWD submarine deal involved illegal pay
off of USD 30 million.
18. Rs. 64 Crore Bofors Bribe Scandal in 1986
This is the scandal which lands right at the door steps of then PM Rajiv Gandhi
and first family of Congress. Congress party has tried all dirty tricks to cover up
this scam to save Sonia and her family members who are directly involved in this
scam. Sonia and Late Rajiv Gandhi had helped Italian businessman Quattrocchi in
receiving bribe in Bofors purchase and had also helped him in getting large
number of contracts in Power & fertilizers besides defense deal. Sonia was
instrumental in facilitating his escape from India.
19. The Securities Scam of Rs. 5000 Crore in 1992
According to Tribune dated 2,10,1997, the special court investigating into Rs.
5,000 Crore securities scandal of 1992 had approved the 34 charges submitted by
CBI against big bull, Harshad Mehta, two employees of Maruti Udyog and two of
ANZ Grindlays and UCO bank.

20. PSU Disinvestment of Rs. 3000 Crore

Public Accounts Committee had indicted the government on the disinvestment of
PSU. PSU suffered loss of 3000 Crore in the process.
21. Dhoti Scam of Rs. 200 Crore
22. Urea Scam of 133 Crore
A.E Pinto, the London based Brazilian broker, who represented the Urea Scam
tainted Turkish Firm Karsan signed a deal with the Public sector National
Fertilizers Limited (NFL) in July 1995 for Urea Supply. Mr.Pinto is charged with
having received a total amount of 7 lakh US Dollars from Swiss bank accounts, in
which entire amount of 133 crore was paid in advance by NFL for the supply of
two lakh tonnes of Urea which never reached India. Prabakar Rao, Son of then PM
a congressman is main accused.

That’s what Congress

Knows Best
23. letter of Credit scam, of 240 Crore
24. Union Minister P.K Thungan fraudly encashed
bank draft of 9.98 Lakh.
25 Telecom Scam of 1.68 Crore
26. Oil Fields Scam of Rs. 5000 Crore
27. Rs. 5000 Crore Scam of Medical Equipments
Import
28. Stock Scam of Rs. 6,000 Crore
29. Rs. 5000 crore Scam of Railways Contracts
Then Railway Minister and Congress leader C.K. Jaffer
Sharief and other senior officers of ministry are involved
in an illegal gauge conversion contracts.
30. Rs. 400 Crore land scandal in Ranchi (Bihar)
31. CRB scam of 1000 crores
32. Congress government loaned Rs. 45000 Crore to black
listed companies. These companies were black listed by
RBI. (source free press journal 26.9.1996). Total of 3973
frauds were registered but nothing has moved since then.
33. Rs. 2000 Crore Nagaland Lottery Scandal
34. The Gold Star Securities Scam of 8000 Crores
35. The St. Kitts Scandal- Crime of forgery
36. JMM Case of Bribery
37. Shri Rao was accused of receiving 1 Crore
38. The Hawala Scandal
39. Petrol Pumps allotments to Kins of Rao
40. Sheila Kaul indicted in housing scam
Sheila Kaul was indicted in housing scam, when she was
urban development minister. She quit as Himachal Pradesh
Governor. The supreme court imposed exemplary fine of
Rs. 60 lakh as damages caused to the exchequer
41. Recovery of Crores of Rupees from Sukh Ram’s
House
Shri Sukh Ram was arrested after CBI raid on his house
led to recovery of crores of rupees, only to be let off later.
42. Madhav Singh Solanki Interference in Bofors Probe
43. Jagdish Tytler’s as surface transport minister, did
several undue favors to his close associate by illegally
allotting land worth of crores of Rupees belonging to
Bombay Port Trust.
 Major Scams of North East
1. N C Hills Scam : Assam
26. Fraudulent fire to declare burning of 25,000 shows
2. Subsidy (Transport) Scam : Assam meant for poor children, Sikkim
3. Irrigation Scam :Assam 27. Smuggling of red sandalwood to China, Sikkim
4. Guwahati Municipal Corporation Scam : Assam 28. Sikkim Power Development Corporation scam,
5. Guwahati Urban Development (JNURM) Scam : Assam Sikkim
29. Ranka Tourist Villa Scam , Sikkim
6. Police Constable Recruitment Scam: Assam
30. Sikkim Khadi Board Fraud, Sikkim
7. Teachers Appointments Scam: Assam 31. Kanchandzonga Tourist Villa Scam, Sikkim
8. National Highway Scam: Assam 32. TB Medicine Scam, Sikkim
9. PDS Scam of Rs 1000 crore: Assam 33. Fake / Stolen Bank deposits Scam, Sikkim
10. Flood Control Scam: Assam 34. Rs.150Cr Fraudulent Bank deposit scam, Sikkim
35. Hydel power scam, Sikkim
11. Fake/Fraudulent payments scam, Assam
36. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Scam, Sikkim
12. SGRY funds scam, Assam 37. SGRY Scam, Sikkim
13. NREGA funds misappropriation scam, Assam 38. NREGA scam, Sikkim
14. Rural development fund embezzlement, Assam 39. Midday meal scam, Sikkim
15. Hydro Power Scam :Arunachal 40. PDS scam, Sikkim
41. Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran Scam, Sikkim
16. SGRY Scam : Arunachal
42. Loktak Lake Cleaning Scam: Manipur
17. PDS Scam of Rs 1000 Cr: Arunachal 43. Teachers Appointment Scam: Manipur
18. Mines & Mineral Allotment Scam : Arunachal 44. Road Construction Scam: Manipur
19. Drinking Water Mission Scam: Arunachal 45. Big Dam / Irrigation Scam: Mizoram
20. Hydro Power projects scam, Arunachal 46. Cement Land Scam: Meghalaya
47. North-East Subsidy Scam
21. PDS Scam, Arunachal
48. AIBP scam, Nagaland
22. Public Private Partnership scam, Arunachal 49. Rural Infrastructure Development Fund scam,
23. NREGA scam, Arunachal Nagaland
24. Siphoning of Entertainment Tax, Sikkim 50. NREGA scam, Nagaland
25. Scam of Nayuma Cable (NC), Sikkim
Vision