HC directs TN CB-CID to trace 'missing' 103 kg gold in CBI case
Chennai, Dec 12: The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Crime Branch-CID police to probe into 'missing' 103 kg gold, which was seized by CBI in a raid from an importer here.
The gold is part of 400.47 kg in bullion and ornaments confiscated by the CBI when it carried out searches at the office of Surana Corporation Ltd in Chennai in 2012.
Justice P N Prakash on Friday directed the CB-CID to conduct an inquiry by an officer in the rank of superintendent of police to be completed in six months, while rejecting the CBI's submission that its prestige would "go down" if the investigation was carried out by local police.
The matter relates to a petition filed by the liquidator of Surana Corporation Ltd, seeking a direction to CBI to handover the remaining 103.864 kg gold.
The yellow metal was kept in the safes and vaults of Surana Corporation Ltd under the CBI's lock and seal.
When the matter came up, the judge said, "This court cannot subscribe to this view because the law does not sanction such an inference.
All policemen must be trusted, and it does not lie in the mouth of one to say that CBI have special horns, whereas, local police have only a tail."
The judge further observed that it may be an Agni pariksha (test by fire) for the central agency.
"But that cannot be helped. If their hands are clean like Sita (wife of Ram in the epic Ramayanam), they may come out brighter. If not, they would have to face the music," the judge said.
The central agency submitted that it had handed over the 72 keys of the safes and vaults to the Chennai principal special court for CBI cases.
During the seizure, the gold bars were weighed all- together but while handing over to the liquidator, appointed for a settlement of debts between Surana and SBI, it was weighed individually and that was the reason for the discrepancy, the CBI claimed.
While prosecuting the case, the CBI accused officials of Minerals & Metals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) of showing undue favour to Surana in importing gold and silver.
Subsequently, the CBI came to the conclusion that the gold did not have a bearing on a corruption case, and that it had, however, been imported in violation of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).
Hence, a separate case was registered in 2013, and the seized gold was transferred to the file of the new case.
Later, the CBI concluded the probe and filed a closure report, holding that the accused had not committed any offence, but, by issuing the nominated agency certificate to Surana, had violated certain circulars, for which departmental action was recommended against some officials.
The agency also requested the special court to transfer the gold to the office of the director-general of foreign trade (DGFT) as the ownership of the gold was subject to the outcome of the departmental inquiry.
Aggrieved, Surana challenged the transfer of gold to DGFT.
Meanwhile, the SBI moved the National Company Law Tribunal seeking a direction the central agency to handover the gold to the bank as directed the special CB
On December 27, 2019, the NCLT rejected the Union Commerce Ministry's request for the gold and ordered that it be handed over to the liquidator in the presence of officials of all loanee banks.
Accordingly, the CBI along with representatives of all banks and those from Surana broke open the seals of the vault and took inventory of the gold between February 27 and 29 this year and found that there was only 296.606 kg of gold.
Subsequently, the liquidator approached the high court seeking a direction to the central agency to handover the remaining gold.
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Austrian police detain suspect in case of rat poison found in baby food jars on supermarket shelves
Vienna (AP): Police in eastern Austria say a 39-year-old suspect has been arrested after rat poison turned up in some HiPP baby food jars on supermarket shelves in central Europe.
HiPP, which recalled some of its baby food jars in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after the case came to light last month, said in a statement Saturday it was “greatly relieved” by the arrest, and would provide further updates as verified details come in.
The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of prosecutors, said a probe was launched after poison turned up in a baby food jar purchased at a supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt on April 18.
It said the suspect was being questioned, and that no further details would be immediately provided. The Burgenland public prosecutor's office has announced an investigation into suspected “intentional endangerment of the public.”
The Austrian Press Agency reported that an expert report on the toxicity of the poison was pending. A total of five tampered baby food jars were seized before they could be consumed, APA reported.
Authorities said previously they believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria.
HiPP responded by recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic also removed all of the brand's baby jars from sale.
The company said the recall was not due to any product or quality defect on its part, and said the jars left its facility in “perfect condition.”
Police said a customer at the time of the discovery had reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, but no one had consumed the baby food.
