New Delhi, Dec 19: The infamous 1971 Nagarwala fraud case, in which an intelligence officer mimicked the voice of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to withdraw Rs 60 lakh from a bank, is in the news again with the CIC telling the MHA to give an RTI applicant and IPS officer the details of evidence given by him during the probe.
An IPS officer Padam Rosha who deposed before the Reddy Commission, set by Janata Party Government in 1978 to probe the matter, had sought the transcript of the evidence presented by him before the Commission, which was turned down by the Ministry.
The Ministry argued that according to the provisions of the RTI Act it was under no obligation to reveal the information which was more than 20 years old. The argument was turned down by the Commission saying it was "misleading."
The dramatic case which resembles the plot of a masala Bollywood film and described extensively in the Rohinton Mistry`s novel "Such a Long Journey", dates back to May 1971 when India and Pakistan were on the verge of war because of alleged tacit Indian support to Mukti Bahini.
During these tense times, intelligence officer Rustam Sohrab Nagarwala allegedly withdrew Rs 60 lakh from the State Bank of India, Parliament Street branch here, on May 24 1971.
The alleged modus operandi adopted by him was that of instructing the chief cashier, by mimicking the voice of Prime Minister Gandhi, to handover the cash to a "Bangladeshi."
After the money was withdrawn by Nagarwala, who was reportedly involved in the intelligence activities in Bangladesh, was arrested and put in prison where he died under mysterious circumstances.
After some time the investigating officer was killed in a car accident, leaving behind many questions unanswered.
Some questions that remain till date are Why did the chief cashier of a Bank follow the verbal orders of Prime Minister? Why will PM direct a Chief Cashier ignoring other senior officers? Was this practice common that time? Can a man mimic the voice of a woman Prime Minister with such finesse?
Was Nagarwala framed to save some others?
Seven years after the incident, the Janata Party government set up a commission led by Justice P Reddy to enquire the case where Rosha deposed in 1978 and presented evidences. The commission also closed the case as it could not reach any conclusion.
Rosha approached the CIC for an order in the case. The Commission found that arguments given by the Ministry were "misleading" and "wrong" and ordered it to reveal the requested information.
The argument given by the ministry was in contrast to the RTI Act which says that any information which is more than 20 years old "shall be provided" unless special provisions have been invoked.
The Commission said the only issue remained whether this "clearly incorrect and misleading" information had been knowingly been given, qualifying it as mischief under the RTI Act thereby making the ministry`s information officer liable for a penalty of Rs 25,000.
Bureau Report
