Scams in India

1. Wakf Board land scam

In 2012, the Karnataka State Minorities
Commission submitted a report alleging that
27,000 acre of land controlled by the
Karnataka Wakf Board had either been
embezzled or allocated illegally. The said
property was supposed to be donated to the
underprivileged and poor through the Muslim
charitable trust. Anwar Manippady, Chairman
of the Karnataka State Minorities
Commission, said that over 50 percent of the
land has been misappropriated by politicians
and board members. This was supposedly
done in collusion with the real estate mafia for
a fraction of its market value under the watch
of the Karnataka Wakf Board. Investigation is
currently ongoing.

2. Telgi scam
This scam seems to be straight out of a
Hollywood movie. In 2002, Abdul Karim Telgi
was charged for counterfeiting stamp paper in
India. He appointed 350 fake agents to sell
stamp papers to banks, insurance
companies, and stock brokerage firms. The
scam spread across 12 States and the
amount involved was pegged at Rs 200
billion. The investigation revealed that Telgi
enjoyed support from various government
departments that were involved in the
production and sale of high-security stamps.
In January 2006, Telgi and several
associates were sentenced to 30 years
rigorous imprisonment.
3. 2G Spectrum scam
This scam surfaced when it was revealed
that the government, in 2008, had
undercharged mobile telephone
companies for frequency allocation
licences. These licences are used to
create 2G spectrum subscriptions for cell
phones. The Comptroller and Auditor
General of India stated that “the
difference between the money collected
and that mandated to be collected was
Rs 1.76 trillion”. In February 2012, the
Supreme Court of India declared the
allotment of spectrum as “unconstitutional
and arbitrary” and cancelled the 122
licences issued in 2008 under A. Raja,
then Minister of Communications and IT.

4. Commonwealth Games scam

The Commonwealth Games scam took India by
storm in 2010 involving a pilferage of around Rs
70,000 crore. Since its inception, the games
were tangled in a maze of corrupt deals. This
included inflated contracts, criminal conspiracy,
cheating, and forgery. And in the centre of the
corruption was Suresh Kalmadi, the then Pune
Lok Sabha MP. Investigation suggested that the
organising committee ran as a sort of
“Badmaash Company,” and he was charged
under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Kalmadi
allegedly awarded a Rs 141-crore contract to
Swiss Timing for its timing equipment, a deal
inflated by Rs 95 crore. Further, it was reported
that Indian athletes were forced to stay in
shabby apartments instead of the flats allotted to
them by the authorities.
5. Satyam scam

Dubbed as ‘India’s Enron

scandal’, the 2009 corporate
scam shook the Indian
investors and shareholders
community. Ramalinga Raju,
the Chairman of Satyam
Computer Services, confessed
that he had falsified the
company's accounts, inflating
the revenue and profit. The
fraud involved Rs 14,000 crore.
The CBI investigated the case
and Raju, along with 10 other
members faced imprisonment.
Tech Mahindra took over the
company.

6. Indian Coal Allocation Scam

While many think that 2G scam

remains the biggest one in size in
India. But this coal allocation scam
dwarfs it by the amount involved.
This scam is in regards to Indian
Government’s allocation of
nation’s coal deposit to PSU’s and
private companies. The scam
happened under Manmohan Singh
government and came out in
2012.The basic premise of this
scam was that wrongful allocation
of Coal deposits by Government
without resorting to competitive
bidding, which would have made
huge amounts to the Government
(to tune of 1.86 Lakh crore).
However, the coal deposits were
allocated arbitrarily.
7. The Punjab National Bank Fraud Case
relates to fraudulent letter of undertaking
worth ₹11,356.84 crore (US$ 1.4 billion)
issued by the Punjab National Bank at its
Brady House branch in Fort, Mumbai;
making Punjab National Bank liable for the
amount. The fraud was allegedly organized
by jeweller and designer Nirav Modi. Nirav,
his wife Ami Modi, brother Nishal Modi and
uncle Mehul Choksi, all partners of the firms,
M/s Diamond R US, M/s Solar Exports and
M/s Stellar Diamonds; along with PNB
officials and employees, and directors of
Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi's firms have
all been named in a chargesheet by the CBI. Nirav Modi and his family absconded in early 2018,
days before the news of the scam broke in India .
Nirav Modi is currently in the United Kingdom and is seeking political asylum in Britain
though the Indian government has officially asked for his extradition. The Enforcement
Directorate has begun attaching assets of the accused and is seeking to immediate
confiscation under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance.
Modi is on the Interpol's wanted list for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating
and dishonesty including delivery of property, corruption, money laundering since February
2018.

8. Bofors scandal
Bofors scandal was one of India’s major weapons-contract
political scandal that occurred in the 1980’s and 1990’s. This
scandal was initiated by the Congress party politicians accusing
the then Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, and several other
Indian and Swedish government officials of receiving major
kickbacks from Bofors AB — a Swedish arms manufacturer.

The scandal came to light due to excellent work in investigative

journalism carried out by the Reuters news based on revelation
of Swedish radio’s breaking news, and then by the Hindu
newspaper. Journalist Chitra Subramaniam who was working
with Hindu at that time procured nearly 350 documents concerning the pay-offs.

It was alleged that Bofors had paid Rs. 640 million in the form of kickbacks to the Indian politicians
and important defence officials to win a bid to supply India’s 155 mm field howitzer, a short gun for
firing shells on high trajectories at low velocities.

The scale of the scandal was so huge that it led to the defeat of the congress party in the 1989
general elections. The Delhi High court in 2004 quashed all charges of payoffs against former PM
Rajiv Gandhi and others.
9. Kargil coffin scandal
Former Defence Minister of India George
Fernandes who passed away on 29
January 2019 at the age of 88, was
implicated in a corruption case called as
the ‘Coffin Gate’ exposed by a sting
operation by Tehelka, a news portal. It
may be recalled that the late Fernandes
was the defence minister in the Vajpayee-
led NDA government when India fought
against — Pakistan in the Kargil war in
1999 and emerged victorious.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of
India’s report had found several flaws in
the procurement of the caskets, which
were said to be of very low quality and
highly priced. The caskets were purchased from Buitron and Baiza, a company based in
America that rendered funeral services. The then ruling government National Democratic
Alliance had purchased 500 caskets worth $2500 each which was presumed to be thirteen
times the original amount.
A charge sheet was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a CBI court in Delhi
and a case was registered against Fernandes, for alleged abuse of official position for
personal gains and several others. This scandal was met with the widespread protests from
other political parties such as Congress, which led to Fernandes resignation as defence
minister during the course of the investigation.

10. Hawala scam

Also called the Jain Diaries case or the Hawala scam was an
Indian political and financial scandal involving payments
Allegedly sent by politicians (black money) through four
hawala brokers, namely the Jain brothers.
In 1991, an arrest linked to militants in Kashmir led to a raid
on hawala brokers, revealing evidence of large-scale
payments to national politicians. Those accused included L.
K. Advani, V. C. Shukla, P. Shiv Shankar, Sharad Yadav,
Balram Jakhar, and Madan Lal Khurana.
The entire list contained politicians from the BJP, Congress
and independent MLAs and MPs, with amounts varying
between Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 7.5 crore. Many were acquitted in
1997 and 1998, partly because the hawala records (including diaries) were judged in court to
be inadequate as the main evidence.
Ghandhian philosophy of ethics
Gandhi is considered as one of the greatest moral philosopher of India.
He is well known for "Practicing what he had preached”. The major
principle that he enunciated are
1. Ends and Means: Gandhi always
emphasized on pure means and ends.
Improper means cannot be adopted to
achieve proper ends. As a wrong path
cannot take you to right destination.
2. Satyagraha: It is the continuous
realization for truth. It mainly includes
self-sacrifice, peace and non-violence.
Only a person with will and
determination can follow Satyagraha.
3. Trusteeship: Wealthy people should
acts Trustees of trust that looked after
the welfare of the people.
4. Concept of seven sins: Wealth
without work, Pleasure without
conscience, Knowledge without
character, Commerce without morality,
Science without Humanity, Religion
without Sacrifice, Politics without
Principle.
5. Sarvodaya: also called Gandhian Socialism which means Universal
Upliftment of all.
6. Dignity of Labor: Gandhi tried to established equality among all by
making bread labor compulsory to all.
True way to show respect for Gandhi is by following his Principle in letter
and spirit and not merely remembering him on his Birthday and Martyr's
Day.