1971 Nagarwala scandal
Encyclopedia
On May 24, 1971, INR
60 lakh
was withdrawn from the State Bank of India
, Parliament Street branch, and given to a "Bangladesh ka babu" (Hindi for "man from Bangladesh
") after the chief cashier, Ved Prakash Malhotra, got a call purportedly from Indira Gandhi
then Prime Minister of India
asking him to do so.
Later it was discovered that former army captain, Rustom Sohrab Nagarwala, then attached to Indian intelligence or R&AW, collected the money from Malhotra, by "mimicking the voice of Mrs. Indira Gandhi", presumably for being diverted to the Mukti Bahini
in its guerrilla-liberation campaign from West Pakistan. Nagarwalla, it was later alleged, was about to leave that same evening for Nepal. He was arrested, however, after Malhotra went in person to collect a receipt from P. N. Haksar, Indira Gandhi's personal secretary, informing him that the requested payment was done. A stunned Haksar informed Malhotra that Mrs Gandhi had instructed nothing of the sort and urged him to inform the police immediately.
The opposition parties suspected that the money belonged to Indira Gandhi. They also alleged that it was not an isolated case.
The investigating officer, D. K. Kashyap, investigating the case was killed in a car attack. Nagarwala was sentenced for four years and died in prison in February, 1973. This was due to deliberate neglect of his increasing ill-health, a point in fact later confirmed in an official enquiry.
A Commission of Inquiry was set up by Janata Party
under Justice P. Jagan Mohan Reddy
on June 9, 1977, to probe into the Nagarwala case.
Justice Jaganmohan Reddy listed four "incontrovertible facts" - one of them being the fact that Indira Gandhi did not have any account in that branch - but concluded that they were not sufficient to hold that the money belonged to her. "There were several lacunae," he said, and listed them. "To supply an answer to these (lacunae) would force me to leave the safe haven of facts which required to be established by evidence and enter the realm of conjectures and speculation." (p. 176).
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
60 lakh
Lakh
A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...
was withdrawn from the State Bank of India
State Bank of India
The State Bank of India is the largest Indian banking and financial services company with its headquarters in Mumbai, India. It is state-owned. The bank traces its ancestry to British India, through the Imperial Bank of India, to the founding in 1806 of the Bank of Calcutta, making it the oldest...
, Parliament Street branch, and given to a "Bangladesh ka babu" (Hindi for "man from Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
") after the chief cashier, Ved Prakash Malhotra, got a call purportedly from Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
then Prime Minister of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
asking him to do so.
Later it was discovered that former army captain, Rustom Sohrab Nagarwala, then attached to Indian intelligence or R&AW, collected the money from Malhotra, by "mimicking the voice of Mrs. Indira Gandhi", presumably for being diverted to the Mukti Bahini
Mukti Bahini
Mukti Bahini , also termed as the "Freedom Fighters" or FFs, collectively refers to the armed organizations who fought against the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War. It was dynamically formed by Bengali regulars and civilians after the proclamation of Bangladesh's independence on...
in its guerrilla-liberation campaign from West Pakistan. Nagarwalla, it was later alleged, was about to leave that same evening for Nepal. He was arrested, however, after Malhotra went in person to collect a receipt from P. N. Haksar, Indira Gandhi's personal secretary, informing him that the requested payment was done. A stunned Haksar informed Malhotra that Mrs Gandhi had instructed nothing of the sort and urged him to inform the police immediately.
The opposition parties suspected that the money belonged to Indira Gandhi. They also alleged that it was not an isolated case.
The investigating officer, D. K. Kashyap, investigating the case was killed in a car attack. Nagarwala was sentenced for four years and died in prison in February, 1973. This was due to deliberate neglect of his increasing ill-health, a point in fact later confirmed in an official enquiry.
A Commission of Inquiry was set up by Janata Party
Janata Party
The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...
under Justice P. Jagan Mohan Reddy
P. Jagan Mohan Reddy
Justice P. Jagan Mohan Reddy was Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court.He was born on January 23, 1910. He practised in the High Courts of Bombay, Madras and Hyderabad during 1937-46...
on June 9, 1977, to probe into the Nagarwala case.
Justice Jaganmohan Reddy listed four "incontrovertible facts" - one of them being the fact that Indira Gandhi did not have any account in that branch - but concluded that they were not sufficient to hold that the money belonged to her. "There were several lacunae," he said, and listed them. "To supply an answer to these (lacunae) would force me to leave the safe haven of facts which required to be established by evidence and enter the realm of conjectures and speculation." (p. 176).