Major scams which heated Indian political scenario in 2017

Year ender 2017: Major scams of 2017

Image: Representational/PTI

New Delhi: 2017 has been a year of major scams and controversies, which ignited several debates and opened prison doors for various leaders. As the year comes to a close, we have shortlisted the major scams which rocked the year. IRCTC Scam: Rashtriya Janta Dal Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav who was recently convicted in multi-million Fodder scam, has had another albatross around his neck; that is of IRCTC scam; which allegedly took place under his nose when he was serving as a Railway Minister. In July, the ED registered a case against Lalu Prasad, his family members and others under various provisions of the PMLA. Before that, the Central Bureau of Investigation registered a first information report and conducted multiple searches on the properties of Lalu Prasad and others. The CBI FIR alleged that Lalu Prasad, during his tenure as the railway minister in the first UPA government, handed over the maintenance of two hotels of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation to a company in 2004 in return for prime land in Patna through a benami company owned by Sarla Gupta, the wife of Prem Chand Gupta, a former Union minister. Bihar Toiler scam: Another scam surfaced from Bihar in 2017. This one was a multi-crore scam in construction of toilets in the state. The case was about fraudulently transferring money worth crores of rupees into accounts of NGOs. Speaking on the same, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar promised to nab the guilty. “The guilty will not be spared. Strict action will be taken against all those who are found guilty of having embezzled public money. This has been our policy” he said. Gomti Riverfront scam:  This scam alleged irregularities in the Rs 1,500 crore Gomti riverfront development project in Lucknow. The onus was put on 8 engineers and a FIR was also registered against them. As the matter came to light, the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh had constituted an inquiry into the beautification project of the Gomti riverfront carried out by the former Samajwadi Party government. The Adityanath government wanted the matter referred to the CBI, which later took over the investigation. Puducherry MBBS scam: 778 illegal admissions for medical students were reported from Puducherry, which spurred a massive row. These seats were provided by Union Territory’s private colleges and violated the Supreme Court-formed guidelines. The lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi sought a CBI investigation into the same. The Medical Council of India cancelled the admission of 778 students (770 under all-India quota and eight under state quota) in September after a probe found irregularities on part of colleges in granting seats during the last academic session.