CBI arrests Tamil Nadu Accountant General Arun Goyal for bribery

Arun Goyal belongs to the 1992 batch of Indian Audit Service. He hails from Rajasthan. The other arrested have been identified as Gajendran, senior accounts officer, S Sivalingam, PWD, Tamil Nadu government, Tiruvannamalai and LS Raja, PWD employee from Tiruvallur. A CBI, ACB, Jaipur team is carrying out searches in Goyal’s residence there. 

According to a CBI official, Goyal had demanded Rs 5 lakh through Gajendran from Sivalingam, for posting him as divisional accountant in PWD Villupuram. Raja had been mediating between Sivalingam and Gajendran, the official added. CBI said that all the suspects were part of a criminal conspiracy since February. 

The four have been booked under IPC Sections 120 B (Criminal conspiracy) and Provisions 7, 12 and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. In pursuance of this conspiracy, Gajendran had collected the bribe amount from Sivalingam on Friday in the office premises of AG, Teynampet. Raja accompanied Sivalingam during the transaction. Meanwhile, the CBI team intercepted the three and after interrogation, they confessed to the charges. 

Gajendran told officials that of the Rs 3 lakh, Rs 2 lakh was received from Sivalingam while the rest of the amount was suspected to have been received from other people. The money was recovered from Goyal’s office chamber before he was arrested by the CBI. 

It may be recalled that Goyal is part of an ongoing dispute with the employees of the Accountant General’s office after he decided last year to seal the Employees Cooperative Credit Society which has been functioning in the premises for the last 60 years. 

Goyal also refused to recover the loan instalment from the employees’ monthly salary, which had been the practice since the inception of the society.