One of the most talked about scams, a scam which lost the Congress party the elections!

Even
today, more than a decade later, it still haunts the Congress Party. It opened a whole new
chapter in Indian Politics on the ?Kickbacks?. What is scam better known as?
Bofors Gun Scam. The scam pertains to the kickbacks received by various officials and
middlemen for the purchase of 410FH-77 guns for Rs 1, 437.72 Crore. The chief accused in this
scam were Octavio Quattrocchi, Win Chadha, the Hinduja Brothers and S.K. Bhatnagar. It
happened during the reign of the Congress Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi and has ever since
tainted his image! The Charge-sheet was filed 10 years after the case was filed!
This was the state of Bihar piece de resistance in Scams. Funds which were to the Animal
Husbandry departments were re-routed to the pockets of a few ?distinguished? gentlemen. At
the time, the approximate value of the scam was pinned at around Rs 1000 Crore. What is the
name given to this scam?
Fodder Scam. The fodder scam first reared its ugly head in January, 1996. Till 2003, 63 charge-
sheets were filed in the courts; however, during the same period, only one conviction (of three
officials) has taken place! Other prominent members (or people charged) include the Former
Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi.

The most damaging of all the Scandals that took place in India during the 20th century.
Whether it was the example of idiotic and ridiculous investing or a case of cunning calculations,
the courts hadn't decided till 2003. But one thing is for sure, millions of investors all over the
country lost all their vital investments. The chief of the Organisation, P.S Subramanyam was
accused of foul-play thanks to a 32 Crore investment in Cyberspace (a Lucknow based
company). What was the scam more famously called?
UTI scam. UTI (Unit Trust of India) was India?s premier investment and mutual fund company.
The scam was revealed at a time when the share broker, Ketan Parekh, was also being
investigated. The total damages amounted to a staggering Rs 10,000 Crores (Some sources put
the amount even higher!).

The first ?celebrity? share broker, his car collection and private luxuries had been the envy of
the town i.e. till the ?Stock Market? scam of 1992 broke out. Amounts up to Rs 4,100 Crore were
siphoned off. While almost all the accused are behind bars, the lead player has passed away.
What was the name of this ?prolific? player, who is forever etched in the memory of the Indian
investor as the quintessential bad boy?
Harshad Mehta. Harshad Mehta rigged the stock market, pushing the value of shares to obscene
figures. In the end, a lot of small investors met their doom thanks to him!

The internet boom did bring its fair share of scams and scandals, but none were more
damaging than the con-game played by Sanjay Agarwal. Impressed by the heavy advertising by
his company, a lot of Co-operative banks in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat invested in his
company. What was the name of the company set up by Agarwal to help him in this con-game?
Home Trade. Total losses to the 17 Co-Operative banks amounted to Rs 1, 200 Crore.

Another scam, this time capitalizing on the shortage of a fertilizer in the market. About 133
Crore Rupees were paid for the import of this fertilizer to a Turkish company. Of course, the
fertilizer was never delivered (the Turkish company never had the capability to produce the
amount required). The Indian tax payer once again loses out in this scam ? game. The scam got
its game from the fertilizer required. What was the name of the scam (and the fertilizer)?
Urea. It got the then Prime Minister of India, P. V. Narasimha Rao (of Congress) into a spot of
bother - many of the accused were close relatives or friends of him!

Another con game played by a minister in P.V. Narasimha Rao?s cabinet, to be precise ? the
Union Communications minister! All purchases for the Telecom department were routed through
the Ministers office and from him, to a few selected beneficiaries! When the raids were finally
conducted on him, he had assets worth 631 % more than his known source of income! What was
the name of this gentleman?
Sukh Ram. The total losses were estimated at Rs 1, 200 Crore; only 5.36 Crore has since been
recovered!(India Today, March 3rd, 2003).

?Out of Turn allotments? was always a part of the Indian corruption game. The rich could
always jump the queue through a few strings and a fistful of money! Two of the damning cases
were exposed in 1996. Two senior Congress ministers were implicated in separate scandals ?
while the extent of the damage can never be exactly ascertained, it is estimated that the accused
(in these two cases) gained over Rs 100 Crores! ?Out of Turn? allotments were given for which
two sectors?
Housing & Petrol Pumps. The Housing scam?s main accused was the then Honourable minister
for Urban Affairs and Employment ? Mrs. Sheila Kaul; while in the petrol pump scam, the accused
was the Union Minister for Petroleum Satish Sharma.

The national passion of the country is Cricket (but NOT the national game). So quite naturally
the entire nation was shocked and disturbed when the match fixing scandals broke out. Some of
the top cricketers were accused, of course they, in return, counter accused and it soon became a
?cricketing mess?. Which Cricketer broke down during an interview with Karan Thapar over the
fact that he was accused of match fixing by a fellow cricketer?
Kapil Dev. Kapil Dev was later exonerated of all charges; the ultimate irony coming a few years
later when he was named ?Wisden?s Indian Cricketer of the Century?! He was once the first
player to score 5000 runs and take 400 wickets in Test Cricket; in fact he was once the highest
wicket taker in Test Cricket (Note: For those of you who answered Sachin Tendulkar, I would
honestly recommend you do a lot of cricket quizzes fast!).

Tehelka.com is synonymous with controversies; they have created a niche of themselves in

investigative journalism. One of the most damaging stories involved the rampant corruption in
the Indian Army (with respect to the ?kickback? legacy?). This top story nearly felled the
Vajpayee government. Who was the defense minister of India at the time when this news broke
out?
George Fernandes. While there was no evidence to implicate George Fernandes with this scam,
Opposition leaders still boycotted him. There was many a casualty in this drama, including the
President of BJP, Mr. B. Laxman (he was caught on video accepting ?contributions?!). Tarun
Tejpal is the head of Tehelka.com (www.tehelka.com)