RailNeer scam: CBI registers case against 2 ex-Railway officers, 7 pvt firms

 

Two former Northern Railway officers were suspended within hours of CBI registering cases against them for allegedly allowing sale of cheaper, non-RailNeer, branded water in premium trains. A case has also been registered against seven private firms based at Delhi, said a CBI release. 

According to a Central Bureau of Investigation release, a case has been registered against two then Chief Commercial Managers (Catering), Northern Railways, and seven private firms based at Delhi. The allegation was that the accused had shown favour to these private firms in supply of cheap packaged drinking water (PDW) other than mandatory “RailNeer” in premium trains, including Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express.

These officers, who were then with Northern Railway, did not act against the private firms after Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) informed them that these firms were not picking up RailNeer branded packaged drinking water. This was despite Railway Board prescribing RailNeer for premium trains, such as Shatabdi and Rajdhani.

“It was further alleged that the Railway Board had prescribed that IRCTC shall provide RailNeer at a rate of Rs. 10.50/- (approx.) a bottle to the private caterers and the private caterers will be paid Rs. 15/- (approx) a bottle for supplying the same to the passengers in premium trains but the private caterers in order to obtain undue gain, were supplying cheaper brands other than “RailNeer”, “the release said, adding that cheaper brands were available in the market at a rate of Rs. 5.70 to 7 a bottle. “This caused gain to themselves and loss to the exchequer,” it said.

The cases followed searches and raids at 13 places in Delhi and Noida, leading to recovery of cash of approximately Rs. 20 crore as well as a large number of “incriminating” documents.

The news was broken after a Railway Ministry tweet on Friday night: “Last night two officer(s) raided by CBI has been suspended, MR @sureshpprabhu zero tolerance to corruption.” However, an earlier tweet by the Ministry had mentioned that the Rail Minister “had instructed the Railway Board Chairman to take immediate action.”