The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a deputy director of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office in Chennai, a Delhi-based advocate and another private individual in an alleged Rs 1 crore bribery case linked to the investigation into the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited scam.
The accused have been identified as Harish Kumar Tanwar, a 2017-batch Indian Revenue Service officer serving as an SFIO deputy director, advocate Bharat Sharma and Sharma’s relative Aryan Sharma, according to the CBI account reported by DT Next.
The CBI alleges that the accused demanded Rs 1 crore from the complainant in return for a favourable outcome in the SFIO investigation. The SFIO operates under the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs and investigates serious corporate fraud cases, giving the allegation an institutional dimension beyond the individuals named in the case.
After registering a first information report, the CBI laid a trap to document the alleged transaction. Bharat Sharma was arrested while allegedly receiving Rs 20 lakh from the complainant as part payment of the demanded amount on behalf of the SFIO officer, the agency said.
The alleged payment represents one-fifth of the total amount cited in the case. The CBI has described the arrests as part of its investigation into an alleged demand for an official favour connected with the DHFL case. The agency’s account, as reported, does not establish that the underlying DHFL investigation was influenced or that the allegations against the accused have been proved in court.
The CBI also searched premises linked to the SFIO officer and the advocate and recovered what it described as incriminating material related to the case. The report did not specify the nature of the material recovered or disclose the locations of the searches.
The case places scrutiny on the safeguards governing investigations into large corporate failures and financial wrongdoing. SFIO investigations can involve multiple agencies, complex records and significant consequences for companies, creditors and other stakeholders. Allegations that an official outcome was offered in exchange for money therefore raise questions about the integrity of the enforcement process, although the investigation is still under way.
The CBI is continuing its investigation into the alleged bribery demand, the payment and the material recovered during the searches. Further proceedings and official disclosures will determine the charges and evidence presented against those arrested.
