Chandigarh: CBI gets prosecution sanction against former project director, accountant in CREST fund diversion case

The funds belonging to the society were allegedly diverted from the accounts maintained with IDFC First Bank’s Sector 32 branch

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has received prosecution sanction against Chandigarh Renewal Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society’s (CREST) former project director Sukhwinder Singh Abrol and accountant Sahil Kukkar in the alleged ₹83-crore funds diversion case.

The accused in judicial custody have been directed to appear through video conferencing on October 5. (HT)

The funds belonging to the society were allegedly diverted from the accounts maintained with IDFC First Bank’s Sector 32 branch. The bank meanwhile has approached the special CBI court seeking recognition as a victim/complainant in the case, under Section 2(1)(Y) and other provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

The developments came during the hearing before special judge Bhawna Jain on Wednesday. The CBI informed the court that the sanctions pertaining to Abrol and Kukkar had been received and annexed with the supplementary chargesheet filed on September 11.

The supplementary chargesheet is currently pending scrutiny of documents by the court staff, following which copies will be supplied to the accused. Prosecution sanctions against accused Ribhav Rishi, the former manager of the branch, Abhay Kumar, the bank’s relationship manager, Seema Dhiman, the bank authoriser, and two others are still awaited. The court adjourned the matter to October 5 for scrutiny of the challan.

The accused in judicial custody have been directed to appear through video conferencing on October 5, while accused Amit Dewan, the former director (finance) of the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited, who is on bail, has also been directed to appear.