SEEPZ Corruption Case: CBI Faces Setbacks as Special Court Releases Key Accused

Mumbai: The CBI's investigation into corruption at the SEEPZ SEZ (Special Economic Zone) suffered another setback on Thursday when a special court ordered the release of Assistant Development Commissioner Rekha Nair, the seventh arrested accused in the case. This ruling came a day after the court had declared the arrests of six other accused illegal, citing flaws in their procedural handling.

The CBI had arrested Nair on Wednesday evening on corruption charges, claiming that she had received a portion of a Rs 15 lakh bribe allegedly paid to Joint Development Commissioner CPS Chauhan by middleman Manoj Joglekar. However, the court pointed out that the CBI had failed to obtain the necessary sanction for Nair's arrest or send her a formal notice before detaining her.

The CBI's investigation revealed that Joglekar had collected substantial bribe amounts in recent weeks, with Rs 60 lakh found in his office at the SEEPZ campus. In total, the CBI’s probe covers nine accused, including seven public servants and two middlemen, implicated in a web of corruption involving illegal allotments, goods transactions, and payments to contractors at the SEEPZ zone.

The agency's struggle to secure remand for Nair comes as further evidence of collusive corruption emerges, with officers allegedly accepting bribes from multiple parties in exchange for favours and illicit gains.