Rs 30-cr spent on Kurla stn down the drain. Literally
The brand new Kurla Terminus, inaugurated on April 16 and touted as the Railways' Rs 30-crore gift to Mumbai, has already started to develop huge cracks. Worse, the entire structure - built on marshy land - has begun sink.
In fact, Mumbai Mirror has learnt that portions of the structure had to be demolished even before it was inaugurated. Highly placed sources in Central Railway said Vinay Mittal, chairman of the Railway Board, and Subodh Jain, general manager, Central Railway, are both aware of the problem.
A week before the formal inauguration by then railway minister P K Bansal, the CR general manager had got his staff to demolish three rooms that were...
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sinking. While Jain was not available for comment, Mukesh Gupta, chief administrative officer, admitted that some portions of the structure were demolished before the inauguration.
Gupta said, "I took over as chief officer one-and -a-half years ago. I am told that that the land on which the terminus building has been built was marshy. We do not know how it was filled up. The building is not sinking, but the partition walls and floors are. We are also aware of the cracks and will undertake remedial measures."
Gupta added that no action has been taken against the contractor who built the terminal.
"What wrong has the contractor done? He has constructed the building as per our specifications," he said.
When Mumbai Mirror visited the terminus building on Monday, we noticed cracks in the booking office, and in the offices of the chief reservation inspector, the senior section engineer, chief booking supervisor, health inspector and senior station manager.
In the worst condition, ironically, was the cabin of the health inspector; it had huge cracks and a glass door next to it was shattered. When we asked what had caused the glass to shatter, we got two replies - one, that it had shattered becaused of the sinking slab; and two, because someone had damaged it.
The two staircases leading to the first-floor dormitory and cafeteria also had cracks on both sides. At least 15 benches, installed just two months ago, were broken. The station staff said this was because they were of inferior quality, while the railway management claimed that passengers had broken them.
Local Member of Parliament Priya Dutt said, "I am really shocked. A lot of money has been spent without checks and balances. A structural audit must be done."
The station complex also has a big flaw - there is no connectivity between the new building and four of the platforms. A footover bridge is being built now, but plans to construct a subway has been suspended because of the weak soil.
History of Kurla Terminus
The original Kurla Terminus was inaguated in the 1980s. Constructed on a marsh, it had poor connectivity. In 1996, the BMC approved a proposal to rename the station after Lokmanya Tilak. As CST and Dadar were saturated, CR decided to expand LTT. CR then built a fifth and sixth line to connect LTT with Thane.
Since the station was housed in a makeshift building, CR approved plan for a swanky new terminus building in 2006, and bagan work on it in 2007. The state also agreed to provide better connectivity by giving an arm of the Santacruz Chembur Link Road to the terminus.
The revamp took three years. The new station complex was built on 50,000-sq-metres of land with a 3,300-sq-metre concourse . It has five turbo ventilators to draw out hot air. It also has food courts and retiring rooms for passengers, and a huge mural designed by students of the J J School of Arts.

Asks him to raise the point in trial court, reserves order challenging his transfer
Chandigarh:
The Chandigarh bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) today refused to entertain the allegation raised by a CBI inspector against DIG Mahesh Aggarwal for allegedly leaking the information of a raid by the Delhi CBI on the residence of former Union Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla in Sector 28.The tribunal today asked the petitioner’s counsel to raise these points before the trail court, where the case (Railway bribery case) was pending, and not before the bench.Meanwhile, the Chandigarh bench of CAT, which only entertains service matters, today reserved its order on the petition filed by CBI inspector Balbir Singh challenging his transfer orders from Chandigarh to Delhi.In his affidavit submitted to the tribunal,...
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Balbir Singh alleged that DIG Mahesh Aggarwal was responsible for leaking the information of the CBI raid at Vijay Singla’s residence on May 3.
During the hearing today, inspector Balbir Singh was also present in the courtroom.
The CBI counsel informed the bench that the Delhi CBI, in its release issued to the media, had already clarified that the CBI had not ordered any internal inquiry against any of its officer/official in connection with alleged prior leak of information pertaining to searches conducted in Chandigarh in the railway bribery case.
The petitioner’s counsel also submitted before the court that DIG Mahesh Aggarwal had ordered his transfer because he did not bowed to his pressure tactics.
Denying the allegations, CBI counsel told the court that the transfer orders were issued because a complaint was received by the CBI from its official that inspector Balraj Singh was interfering in the high-profile murder case of Haryana, in which politicians were also involved.
CBI counsel told the court that in the patwari graft case, Balraj was not the verifying officer, trap-laying officer or the investigating officer, so there was no way Balraj was pressured by DIG Mahesh Aggarwal.
Finally, the Chandigarh bench of CAT reserved its order on transfer.

Chandigarh:
BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan suffered a minor injury after the Chandigarh Police used water cannons to stop the protesters from marching towards the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Sector 30 today.The BJP activists were protesting against the CBI DIG Mahesh Aggarwal for allegedly leaking the information of the raid on former union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla residence in Sector 28.The BJP activists led by Dhawan gathered near the CBI office and started raising slogans against the CBI demanding Aggarwal’s resignation and an independent inquiry against him.The situation worsened when the police used water cannons to disperse the protesters when they were trying to cross the barricades.Dhawan, who was standing alongside the road, lost balance due to water pressure and fell. Seeing Dhawan in trouble, his supporters rushed towards him and took him to Government Multi-Specialty...
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Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16. He was discharged after treatment.DSP Vijay Kumar said the cannons were used to disperse the crowd.The road from the Sector 29/30 light point to Sector 30/20 light point was also closed to traffic for about an hour due to the protest.
However, other senior BJP leaders, including Satya Pal Jain, Sanjay Tandon and BJP councillors, did not take part in the protest.

New Delhi:
A Delhi court today allowed CBI to interrogate for two days Sushil Daga, one of the accused in the Rs 10-crore railway bribery case in which then Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s nephew is among those arrested.Daga, who was arrested yesterday, was produced before the court and the agency sought his remand, saying it needs to confront him with documents and intercepted conversations of the accused.Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma allowed the CBI’s plea and remanded Daga in the agency’s custody till May 22.“Since accused (Daga) has been arrested yesterday itself, he needs to be confronted with documents and intercepted conversations. It is also to be ascertained as to from where the bribe amount had been arranged....I remand the accused to police custody for two days,” the judge said.The agency told the court that Daga, a regular railway...
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contractor, had allegedly arranged part of the bribe amount which was paid to Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla for the posting of co-accused and then Member (Staff) of Railway Board Mahesh Kumar’s posting as Member (Electrical) of Railway Board.

LUCKNOW: Japan's financial institution, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has shown interest in funding the upcoming metro project in Lucknow. The agency was also interested in offering financial assistance in Lucknow-Agra expressway project. The officials from Japan's agency had a meeting with chief secretary, Jawed Usmani on Monday for discussing the drinking water project in Agra. JICA's officials offered help to fund other projects in UP too. Usmani said that if JICA gives a formal proposal on funding the metro and expressway project, the state government can consider the implementation of these projects. Prior to this, even World Bank has given assurance to the state government for financial assistance for these projects. Both projects require around Rs 12 crore. The projects have been in the pipeline for years as the government is unable to fund these on its own. Some sort of relief is also expected from the central government...
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but nothing concrete has come out so far. In such a situation, JICA's assurance can bring some relief to UP government to fulfil its dream project.
For the Lucknow-Agra expressway project, the developer has to be selected. Around 15 odd firms have shown interest in this project. Their queries have been answered and now they have to formally apply for it. For further planning, the chief secretary would soon hold a meeting with the officials of industrial development department.
There is also a proposal to fund the metro project through proposed developments on Chak Gajaria farms.

The secretary general of the All Indian Railway Protection Force Association has sent a defamation notice to CBI director Ranjit Sinha on the charge of making false allegations against him.
He has asked for Rs. 51 lakh and an unconditional apology from Sinha within seven days for defaming him or else he would initiate criminal and civil proceedings against him.The CBI had complained to the railway board that RPF association secretary general US Jha for occupying three official accommodations in alleged violation of service rules. The agency also claimed that sharing any information about the misuse of public money for necessary action by the concerned department is a normal practice and duty of the CBI. The agency had denied any charge of vendetta.But Jha claims that when Ranjit Sinha was serving as director general of the RPF, he had leveled serious...
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charges of corruption against the officer.According to Jha, he had also made written complaint against Sinha to the minister of railways on May 16, 2011. Besides, he made two more complaints against Sinha on June 20, 2011 and on August 3, 2012 against Sinha.Sinha served as the DG of the RPF between November 12, 2008 and May 19, 2011.In his legal notice, Jha said that there was no misuse of accommodations as they were allotted to the association by the railway ministry. He has given details of all accommodations allotted to the RPF association.

BJP workers led by former MP Harmohan Dhawan today staged a protest outside the CBI office here, demanding removal of CBI DIG Mahesh Aggarwal from Rail Board bribery probe. The workers alleged that it was DIG Aggarwal who had tipped off former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's relatives and aides about the impending raids. An affidavit by inspector Balbir Singh on May 15 against the Chandigarh CBI DIG said, the DIG leaked crucial info about a Delhi CBI team's impending road on P K Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla's house on May 3 in connection with the Rs 10 crore job-for-cash scam. The affidavit was filed before the Central Administrative Tribunal, in which Balbir Singh also alleged that Aggarwal had tried to manipulate junior officials to favour Chandigarh Municipal Corporation's joint commissioner Rajiv Gupta in a corruption case. Rajiv Gupta is the brother of Bansal's financial auditor and close aide...
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Sunil Gupta, who is also a shareholder director in Canara Bank, which provided loands to Theon Pharmaceuticals, a farm owned by P K Bansal's wife and sons.
Mahesh Aggarwal is a 1994-batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer and is a relative of Bansal. He came to Chandigarh as an SP in 2006 and was later promoted to DIG rank.

Chandigarh: At least 10 BJP activists were injured today after police used water cannons to stop them from marching towards CBI office in Chandigarh to protest against a top officer whom they accused of shielding former Railway Minister Pawan Bansal in the railway bribery case.Several local party workers, led by BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan, protested against Chandigarh's CBI deputy inspector general Mahesh Aggarwal in Chandigarh alleging that he had close family links with Mr Bansal and had shielded the former railway minister after the arrest of his nephew in a multi-crore graft case.The protesters tried to take their march towards the local CBI office but were stopped by police, following which the BJP activists tried to break the barricades.Police then used water canons to disperse the BJP activists, in which at least ten of them, including a woman, received minor injuries, sources said. "Our's was a peaceful protest...without provocation police...
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used water cannons against us," Mr Dhawan said.Mr Dhawan claimed that a CBI officer had submitted an affidavit before the Central Administrative Tribunal on May 15 against Mr Aggarwal alleging that he had tried to influence the investigation in two cases involving relatives of Mr Bansal.
Demanding Mr Aggarwal's immediate suspension and a high-level probe against him, Mr Dhawan also alleged that the CBI officer had leaked the information on Delhi CBI team's raid at Mr Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla's house on May 3 in connection with the railway scandal.
Mr Aggarwal, a 1994 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer, came to Chandigarh as a superintendent of police in 2006 and was later promoted to DIG rank.

NOIDA: After an in-principle approval last month by the UP government to two proposed routes of the Metro in Noida - a 3.9km route between Kalindi Kunj and Botanical Garden and the 6.7km City Center-Sector 62 link -Noida Authority has allocated Rs 2,000 crore for the extension projects.The allocation will be granted a formal approval at the Authority's Board meeting scheduled for May 27. The proposal for the two routes is currently awaiting the Centre's approval. "The file has been sent to the urban development ministry. Once we receive the go ahead, construction will start," said an official. The City Center-Sector 62 line will be routed over the central verge of the Master Plan Road-III from Sector 32. This line will connect Sectors 32, 34, 35, Hoshiarpur, Sectors 51, 52, 71, Greater Noida Extension Marg, Sarfabad, Sectors 60, 61, 62, 63 and NH-24. The proposed route will have six stations...
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at Sectors 34, 52, 59, 61, 62 and Electronic City. The Botanical Garden-Kalindi Kunj Metro line will connect Botanical Garden with Hauz Khas station.
Work on the extension of the Metro from Botanical Garden to Kalindi Kunj is scheduled to be completed by 2016 and construction of the City Center to Sector 62 link is expected by 2017.

JAIPUR: With a lot of civil construction work for the Jaipur Metro rail corridor still pending, it remains a major challenge for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to start commercial operation of the project by August, the new deadline.In a recent project review meeting, it was learnt that the project is set to miss its extended July 2013 deadline and urban development and housing (UDH) minister Shanti Dhariwal had announced August first week as the fresh date.Sources in the department claimed that work for laying tracks from Mansarovar has started. The testing work, however, has been stalled as the ramp for the rail road vehicle has not been constructed. "Even after Shanti Dhariwal expressed disappointment at the project's pace and directed officials to construct the ramp within seven days, the work has not been started yet," an official source said.Delay in civil construction has been given as the major...
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reason for failing to meet both the earlier deadlines set. The minister has said the train can be operational only between Mansarovar and the railway station by August as against the earlier announced route from Mansarovar to Chandpole.However, sources claimed that even to run train on this patch is a huge challenge. "Between Ram Nagar and Shyam Nagar Metro stations, approximately work for 12 segments is pending. Similarly, between Ajmer Pulia and railway station, work for 10 segments is delayed," the source added.The minister has set May 30 as the deadline for completion of civil construction work. Currently, close to 1,200 workers are involved in the civil construction but the number is not enough to expedite the work.The DMRC has attributed several reasons for the delay, including receiving late permission from the commissioner of metro railway safety (CMRS), to construct the elevated tracks across railway tracks near Ajmer road.Showing helplessness to take any strict action against the firm for not performing, the minister had also expressed that if the firm is blacklisted, the project will be delayed further as inviting fresh tenders would require at least six months' time.To avoid further delay in operating the train, the DMRC has an alternate plan to run the coaches already operational on the Delhi Metro routes has been drawn. "If we bring operational coaches from the Delhi Metro, the initial trial run will not be required as they are already tested. The trial run takes four to six months and we can manage the gap by putting coaches which are already tested and approved," an official said.

Haryana's plan to partner with UT administration in the ambitious Metro rail project is likely to be decided in a meeting of the project's coordination committee in New Delhi on Monday.
UT administration, Punjab, Haryana and the union ministry of urban development (MUD) will take part in the meeting to discuss the project that is expected to cost Rs. 10,900 crore.The Metro, once completed, will cover a distance of 35.75 kilometres and be a mode of rapid public transport for Chandigarh, Panchkula and SAS Nagar. The government of Punjab and Haryana and UT administration will jointly bear the expenses of the project.Haryana has expressed its intention of becoming a partner with Chandigarh in the project. Punjab government would just bear the cost of the project falling in its jurisdiction. The Punjab cabinet has already approved the link between SAS Nagar...
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and Chandigarh. Chandigarh plans to take a loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency, which also gave the loan for the Delhi Metro project.Last year, the administration had submitted a detailed project report to the MUD for approval, which is still pending. The ministry is likely to give a nod after deliberation on all issues related to the project.While corridor 1 of the project, measuring 12.49 km, will stretch from Capitol Complex in Sector 1 of Chandigarh to Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan in Sector 70 of SAS Nagar, the second corridor would stretch from Mullanpur in SAS Nagar district to Grain Market in Sector 20 of Panchkula. UT adviser KK Sharma and UT finance secretary VK Singh will represent Chandigarh in the meeting.

Agartala/Guwahati : The extension of the broad gauge railway network from Lumding in Assam to Silchar, Badarpur and Kumarghat in North Tripura is being delayed because funds have not been sanctioned.Work has made considerable progress over the past few years its completion will not be possible before 2015.This was explained to chief minister Manik Sarkar, revenue minister Badal Chowdhury, transport minister Manik Dey and senior officials of the state government by a delegation of Northeast Frontier Railway headed by Rakesh Goel, senior divisional manager of Lumding division, last night.“Eighty per cent of the work on the extension of the 206km Lumding-Silchar broad gauge railway line has been completed while the same work on the 117km Badarpur-Kumarghat (North Tripura) line has made 70 per cent progress. The entire work is expected to be completed by the first part of 2015,” Rakesh Goel said.He also said work on the 109km Kumarghat-Agartala broad...
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gauge conversion was progressing but availability of funds was a constraint.“In the current financial year, only Rs 5 crore has been sanctioned for this project though the requirement was of Rs 127 crore. When funds will be available the work will also gain momentum,” Goel added.On behalf of the state government, the chief minister told the railway delegation that the state was extending all co-operation to the railway authorities and it was the railway’s responsibility to arrange for funds.“We have completed land acquisition work on the Agartala-Sabroom line and handed it over to the railway authority. Only a small stretch of land requires permission from the Union ministry of forest and environment, which will be duly completed. Now the railway authority has to take initiative to ensure smooth progress of the work. Our priority now is conversion of the track into broad gauge,” the chief minister told the railway delegation.Last night’s meeting also discussed the rail connectivity between Agartala and Akhaura railway junction in Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh had signed a memorandum of understanding on February 16 and a steering committee was formed.“A meeting of the steering committee will be held in Dhaka on May 21-22 to discuss modalities for setting the work in motion; the state’s transport commissioner Kishore Ambuly will also attend the meeting,” Goel said. Raising the issue of railway functioning in Tripura the chief minister pressed for improvement in service and strict adherence to timing schedule. “It seems as if old coaches and engines have been dumped in Tripura which often come to a standstill on the tracks, causing great inconvenience to the passengers. This must change and the railways must provide better coaches and engines with all basic amenities,” the chief said. The railway delegation assured the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues that all steps would be taken to improve the service within Tripura.Meanwhile, the ministry of environment and forests has asked the Tripura government to secure a clearance from the National Board for Wildlife for the forest diversion of a railway project.
Sources said the forest advisory committee under the ministry, which met this month to discuss the project, has asked the state government to take permission from the board for diverting 172.85 hectares of forestland for the construction of a new broad gauge line between Agartala and Sabroom.
The Rs 1149.65 crore national railway project was sanctioned in 2008 and was to be commissioned by next year. The length of the proposed railway line is 111.8 km, which passes through Udaipur and Bagafa forest division and the Trishna wildlife sanctuary. The project will provide rail connectivity between the towns of West Tripura, Shipahijalla, Gomati and South Tripura districts, which are of strategic importance to the development of Tripura.
It will provide rail connectivity up to the Bangladesh International Border (till Sabroom). A total of 5823 trees will be felled during the execution of the project.
The committee said an environment clearance would be required, as the build up area is more than 20,000 square metres. The proposed railway line passes approximately 9 to 9.4 km from Trishna wildlife sanctuary. As it is within 10 km of the sanctuary, the state government will have to obtain the approval of the standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife.
Any project passing within 10 km of a protected area will have to take the clearance of the wildlife board. No unique eco-system is reported to exist in the land being diverted for the proposal. The site inspection report said as the proposed railway line will involve the clearing of a long stretch of forest area, significant adverse effects on the general forest eco-system is anticipated.
Some timber yielding species like Shorea robusta has been reported from the existing area. The committee found that the area is vulnerable to erosion and the railways has evaluated all possible alignments for minimum diversion of forestland.
Sources said the point of concern is that several railway projects in the region suffer due to various problems like paucity of funds, limited working season, militant activity and prevailing security scenario, delay in transfer of land to the project from the state government and forest clearance.
Admitting there are problems, a parliamentary panel under the ministry of home affairs has recommended that the best way to work is to properly plan and strategise for development keeping in view the limiting factors so that any development project is not held up halfway.
“Stumbling blocks such as limited working season can be tackled by customised technological solutions while administrative problems like forest clearances and land acquisition on time could be resolved by better co-ordination and persuasion at the highest level,” it said.
The panel said the ministry should ensure that all projects are completed as per the schedule and the fixed targets. “A railway board member should be made the in-charge of the railway projects in the Northeast and the member should review the implementations of the railway projects on a quarterly basis,” it said.

MUMBAI: Two Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel have been captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at CST accepting money from passengers to let them jump the queue while boarding unreserved train compartments.
Senior RPF officers came across the footage during a vigilance check. Seven of their own personnel were also found taking money and their suspension has been initiated.
"This was caught on camera on May 6, 9 and 14," a senior official said. "No ticket checkers are seen in the footage, though they should have been there. The divisional commercial manager of Central Railway has been informed."
Copies of the footage were sent to the GRP top brass. "We are yet to receive the CCTV grabs," DCP GS Bhandare, GRP, Central Railway,...
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said.
The RPF clarified that the action was taken during their own checks and not following complaints from passenger organizations or activists.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday upheld the penalty imposed by the government on a railway employee for taking a bribe of Rs 300 from a decoy agent to expedite the addition of a coach to a passenger train in 2005.
Rajesh Singh, posted at New Delhi Railway station as Deputy Chief Yardmaster at the time of the incident, was awarded with a penalty of reduction in the pay-grade to the lowest grade of pay with cumulative effect for a period upto October 31, 2014 on the charge of corruption.
Dismissing the appeal filed by Rajesh Singh against the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) 2010 order, a bench of justices Pradeep Nandrajog and V Kemeswar Rao upheld CAT's order upholding the government's decision removing Singh from service on the charge of...
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corruption.
"Railway is the largest employer in India. As a Deputy Chief Yardmaster, the petitioner (Singh) had large number of public dealings and we do not know how much illegal wealth may have been amassed by him. Keeping in view the position held by the petitioner, which was one of public trust, we do not find any dis-proportionality in the penalty imposed," the bench said.
Singh was arrested while accepting the bribe of Rs 300 from the decoy customer/trader for preferentially placing empty coach rake of 2622 New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express on July 4, 2005.

The fight between Railway Police Force (RPF) association leader US Jha and CBI Director Ranjit Sinha took another bitter turn on Monday when the former sent a legal notice of defamation to the latter.
The notice has been sent over the circulation and publishing of allegedly “defamatory and derogatory” news about illegal occupation of railways’ accommodations. The notice, demanding Rs 51 lakh as compensation, asserts that Jha is not occupying these accommodations illegally and has been provided them by railways after the due process of allotment has been followed.
Jha has said that two accommodations, one for the office of the All India RPF Association and another for the residence of  the Secretary General of the association, have been allotted legally. 
The notice...
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also says that other unions have also been given such residences to run their offices. In his notice, Jha has claimed that his complaints against Sinha while he was posted as Director General of RPF in railways has prompted the CBI Director to fulfil a “personal grudge, vendetta and vengeance”. He has accused Sinha of “misusing and abusing the public post of CBI director.