CBI books Pune registrar official for allegedly accepting bribe from Mumbai firm

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested an assistant registrar and inspector at the Registrar of Companies (ROC) in Pune on Wednesday, accusing him of demanding and accepting a bribe from a Mumbai-based firm.
Ajay Pawar, a 2016 batch officer of the Indian Corporate Law Service, was apprehended in his office during a sting operation as he allegedly received ₹3 lakh, the remainder of a ₹6 lakh bribe he had demanded from the director of a Mumbai company. The payment was reportedly in exchange for favourable treatment in an ongoing ROC inquiry against the firm.
According to the CBI, Pawar had previously accepted ₹3 lakh as partial payment on October 7. The complainant stated that Pawar initially demanded ₹30 lakh, which was negotiated down to ₹5 lakh, but later increased to ₹6 lakh after receiving the initial sum.
A Mumbai special court remanded Pawar to CBI custody until Saturday. The agency initiated the sting operation following a complaint filed by the firm on October 11.
The CBI registered a case against Pawar on Wednesday under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which pertains to public servants demanding undue advantage. The complainant, a company dealing in gold and precious metals, alleged that Pawar had demanded a bribe in connection with an inquiry initiated by the ROC, Pune.
According to the complaint, Pawar issued an order on August 2 under the Companies Act, 2013, addressed to the firm and its director. He subsequently summoned the company’s auditors, all current directors and former directors to appear before him on September 5. When the firm’s Company Secretary (CS) and a Chartered Accountant met with Pawar, he allegedly made indirect demands for a bribe to favour the firm in the ROC inquiry.
The complaint further alleged that Pawar later demanded ₹30 lakh from the CS. On September 23, Pawar reportedly threatened the firm’s director with heavy penalties and prosecution of all directors, after which the director agreed to pay ₹5 lakh following negotiations.
“Later, after negotiation, the accused increased the demand for the bribe to ₹6 lakh and demanded that the remaining bribe amount of ₹3 lakh be paid to him, instead of ₹2 lakh as earlier demanded by him,” a CBI source said.