CBI court refuses to discharge CBFC CEO in corruption case

MUMBAI: A special CBI court has rejected the discharge plea of the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Mumbai, Rakeshkumar Niti Singh, who was arrested for allegedly taking bribes for issuing censor certificates.

Singh and two others were arrested in August 2014 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. As per the prosecution, Singh allegedly demanded ₹70,000 through an agent, Shripati Mishra, for issuing censor certificate to a film called ‘Mor Dauki Ke Bihav’ before August 15, 2014. During investigation, it was revealed that Mishra had accepted an iPad and a laptop for clearing a Tamil film, ‘Anjaan’.

The discharge plea stated that Singh neither demanded any bribe nor any amount was recovered from him, and that the CEO was not the sole authority responsible for issuing certificates and a screening committee was also involved in the process. The defence maintained that he was exonerated of the same charges in the departmental inquiry.

A prosecution witness, who was the representative of different producers in the city, however, said Singh used to demand ₹2,000 for clearing a film in three days, ₹5,000 for clearing a film in two days and ₹10,000 for clearing a film in a day. He said that he had paid over ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh to Singh.

The prosecution further said two other accused - Shripati Mishra and Sarvesh Jaiswal - used to act as conduit for Singh. Based on the complaint filed by one Pravin Mohare, who was asked to pay bribe for getting his film cleared, a trap was laid by the CBI and Singh was caught red-handed taking the bribe from co-accused Mishra, on August 14, 2014.

“He was collecting the amount through his agents,” said special sessions judge SM Menjoge. “Hence, there is sufficient material to frame charge. Therefore, he cannot be discharged as prayed.”

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India, which is responsible for the certification process of commercial films that are shown in public venues.