File photo of Pawan Kumar Bansal
Pawan Kumar Bansal, who was forced to resign as Railways Minister in May over a corruption scandal in which his nephew allegedly played a starring role, is not among the 10 people accused of the scam in a charge-sheet filed by the CBI.
Mr Bansal was interrogated about the scandal by the CBI last month, which centred on his nephew, Vijay Singla, collecting 90 lakhs in cash, which the CBI says was a bribe from a member of the Railways Board, who hoped for a promotion.
According to the CBI, the deal for the promotion had been set for 10 crores and the 90 lakhs that Mr Singla was caught with was the first installment.
The investigating agency has said that the minister met the Railways official, Mahesh Kumar, in Mumbai before the bribe was paid.
The former minister has denied that he was aware of the cash-for-job conspiracy.
The CBI says it has found no evidence of conspiracy against Mr Bansal.
The BJP says that's no surprise. "This was expected. The CBI gave a clean chit to Bansal before the investigation. It is the work of CBI to save Congress leaders and blame opposition's leaders," said BJP Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain.
Mr Bansal had been appointed with much fanfare last year, becoming the first railway minister from the Congress party since 1996 and the first to raise passenger fares in nine years.