Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rejected charges levelled by the Finance Ministry against former full-time SEBI member K M Abraham, who had, in a June 1, 2011 letter to the PM, alleged that the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and his advisor Omita Paul had put pressure on SEBI chairman U K Sinha to ?manage? some high-profile corporate cases, and in the process, undermined the regulator?s integrity.
The PM?s office received the Finance Ministry?s recommendation for action against Abraham in March this year. In its recommendation, the ministry said Abraham had ?committed serious misconduct and exhibited conduct unbecoming of a member of the service?. It listed three specific charges against Abraham and recommended a major penalty, which could have meant dismissal from service if the charges were proved.
But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rejected all the three charges. Interestingly, the PMO returned the file to the Finance Ministry on July 18, just one day before the presidential election.
The Finance Ministry?s three charges against Abraham were:
* Addressing a representation directly to the PM making unsubstantiated allegations against a senior Cabinet Minister and some senior officers;
* Contacting the press regarding these allegations in the aforesaid representation resulting in the publication of news stories that have had the effect of adverse criticism of the government;
* Acquiring a flat in Mumbai without the previous knowledge of the government.
Rejecting each of the three charges, the PM, who also heads the Department of Personnel and Training, noted that:
* The charge of writing directly to PM is not serious enough to warrant a major penalty on a member of service. The fact that Abraham was a whole-time member of a quasi judicial authority would further mitigate it even for a minor penalty;
* There appears to be no concrete evidence to allege that Abraham contacted the press for publication of news stories leading to adverse criticism of the government. The charge has been levelled only on the basis of the doctrine of non-traverse and may otherwise be difficult to substantiate in an inquiry;
* Acquiring a flat without previous knowledge of the government would amount to misconduct, but the fact that the transaction has been reported by the officer in his immovable property return takes the sting out of the charge.
A fortnight after receiving Abraham?s first letter on June 1 last year, the PMO had forwarded it to the then economic affairs secretary, R Gopalan, seeking his comments. An anguished Abraham had written again to the PM on June 24, complaining that by leaking his identity, he and his family were put at ?grave? risk.
?I couldn?t have gone to the Finance Minister who (as U K Sinha disclosed) had conveyed his interest in a few cases in SEBI to the chairman personally. Giving a copy of my letter that bears specific references to corporate houses, to the Finance Ministry, under the present circumstances can have the unintended consequence of exposing our lives and safety to grave risks,? he wrote. The Indian Express reported this in its August 31, 2011 edition.
In its reply to the Finance Ministry now, the PMO said that ?the DoPT had observed that the Central Vigilance Commission did not appear to have been consulted apparently since in the opinion of Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs no vigilance angle is involved.?
Abraham joined his parent Kerala cadre in July last year after spending three years with SEBI. He is posted as Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Kerala at present.
