ED Secures Conviction in NALCO CMD Money-Laundering Case

Quick Summary

• The Enforcement Directorate (ED) secured convictions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in a case involving Abhay Kumar Srivastava, former chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), and other individuals.
• Those convicted include Mr. Srivastava’s wife Chandni Srivastava, Bhushan Lai Bajaj, and his wife Anita Bajaj.
• The ED inquiry was initiated based on a CBI FIR alleging illegal gratification linked to coal supply tenders floated by NALCO.
• B.L. Bajaj acted as an intermediary to accept bribes from G.S. Bhatia of Bhatia Group in exchange for extending official favors through Mr. Srivastava’s position at NALCO.
• Chandni Srivastava used forged documents to impersonate Anita Bajaj for opening a bank account and locker that were later found holding gold bars and cash worth ₹2 crore, seized by CBI during investigations.
• Movable assets belonging to Mr. Srivastava valued at over ₹2.23 crore were attached during investigations conducted by ED.
• The court recognized the sophisticated money-laundering operations using forgery, impersonation, and layering illicit proceeds through asset purchases like gold bars.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The conviction highlights sustained efforts by investigative agencies such as ED and CBI in tackling corruption within India’s public-sector enterprises-a critical area given their economic importance and monopoly-like operations in strategic sectors such as aluminum production with NALCO being one of India’s leading companies tied closely with resource management policies.

Such cases serve both punitive purposes against financial malpractice as well as offer deterrence against misuse of authority in government-linked companies-a recurring challenge due to structural opacity or overlaps between leadership roles in PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) engaging policy implementation/execution directly influenced decisions governance chain preventing active monitoring gaps.

Highlighting accountability fosters confidence toward institutional frameworks; investigators successfully linking Proceeds Of Crime back usage source-generated value chain justified mechanisms enforcement broader implication necessary state continual auditing cyclic evaluation depth sector oversight critical refinement