Arun Shourie charged with corruption, Rajasthan court orders registration of FIR

- In 2002, there was corruption in the sale of hotels

Jodhpur 17th September 2020 Thursday

A CBI court in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, has ordered the registration of an FIR against former Union Minister Arun Shourie for alleged corruption. The CBI court had also registered an FIR against Shourie along with former secretary Pradeep Baijal and three others.

The case involved Shourie and four others in a 2002 alleged sale of a government-run five-star hotel. CBI Special Judge Justice Puran Kumar Sharma also ordered that the Lakshmi Vilas Palace Hotel in Udaipur be handed over to the state government. The hotel was previously operated by the Tourism Development Corporation of India. The hotel was sold to Indian Hotels Limited in 2002. It was alleged that Shourie and others were involved in the deal. The Lakshmi Vilas Palace Hotel is currently managed by Lalit Group of Hotels.

The court passed the order while hearing a closure report on the loss of Rs 244 crore to the government from the sale of the hotel. The CBI report claimed that no evidence of corruption was found against the suspects in the deal. The court, however, slammed the CBI for filing the closure report. Justice Sharma said at first glance it seemed that Pradeep Shourie and Pradeep Baijal had misused their respective offices resulting in a loss of Rs 244 crore to the government. The CBI is a reputed agency in the country. The CBI had raised a worrying reason by releasing a closure report despite prima facie evidence of corruption.

The other three accused in the case are Ashish Guha, CEO of Lazard India Limited, Kantilal Karamse Vikramse, investment director of Kanti Karamse & Co., and Jyotsna Suri, then chairperson of Bharat Hotels Limited.

The court had directed to register an FIR under Section 120B (Criminal Conspiracy) 420 (Fraud) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13 (1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.