CBI registers its first case under Lokpal

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday registered its first case based on the order of Lokpal, the apex body formed in 2019 to inquire and investigate complaints of corruption against public servants.

The case was filed against Manager Singh, former director-general of the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property, which comes under the Union ministry of culture, and V K Singh, owner of a private construction company, apart from unidentified public servants.

In its order, sent to the CBI on September 30, 2021, Lokpal directed the premier anti-corruption agency to conduct an investigation in tendering, awarding and execution of work in both the campuses of NRLC at Lucknow and Mysore by the VK Singh Construction Company.

The apex body also asked the CBI to investigate the payments made by the construction company to the relatives of Manager Singh, who was appointed as the laboratory’s director-general on a contractual basis.

According to the First Information Report, reviewed by HT, Lokpal received three complaints against Manager Singh and the private company between 2020 and 2021. The accused have been booked under charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and prevention of corruption act, said an official familiar with the matter.

A senior CBI official, familiar with the development, said they have received several complaints from the Lokpal in the last couple of years but this is the first formal FIR registered by the agency.