Pankaj Agarwal, a 2000 batch Haryana IAS officer, who was arrested in the Rs 657 crore IDFC First Bank scam, has sought bail claiming before the CBI court that he has never asked for bribes nor taken bribes from anyone. The petition will be heard on July 30
His role was limited to granting administrative clearance to proposals submitted by his subordinates.
In his bail application, Agarwal claims the CBI has not found any evidence linking him to the alleged fraud. The Haryana School Education Project Council account at IDFC First Bank was opened as per the proposal from subordinate officers and funds were deposited as per the proposal. Agarwal's signature is missing from the account opening form.
Pankaj Agarwal stated he was unaware of any alleged irregularities when opening the bank account and never knew about fraudulently withdrawing money from the department's account at IDFC First Bank. He also mentioned that the Rs 50 crore limit was later removed, which he said weakened the argument that the judgement was actually illegal.
A month back multi crore scam has surfaced by depositing government money in a private bank in a planned manner, in which three IAS officers Pankaj Agarwal, Pradeep Kumar Singh and RK Singh have been put behind jail bars so far.
At the time of Agarwal's arrest, the CBI claimed he had helped open accounts for the Haryana School Education Project Council and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board and was aware of a Rs 60.54 crore fraud transaction.
