New Delhi: The Ministry of Railways is expected to conduct a set of interviews to fill the post of the chairman and the chief managing director (CMD) of its public sector unit (PSU), the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), this Monday, on October 9.The post has been vacant for a year now.Questionable recordThe previous IRFC CMD and chairman, Amitabh Banerjee, was divested of his duties “with immediate effect” in October 2022. This happened after a special report by The Wire pointed out that the Railway Board and the Vigilance Directorate of the Railways had confirmed a full term for Banerjee in spite of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR naming him in a multi-crore corruption case.The Wire has learnt that the list of shortlisted candidates for the top post at IRFC to replace Banerjee includes an officer, Shelley Verma, who has held the post of the director (finance) at the PSU for some years now. She has also temporarily assumed the charge of the CMD.Verma, however, is a controversial name, and her presence in the shortlist has raised both, eyebrows and questions. This is as she, in her capacity as director (finance), had given monetary approval, on various occasions during her predecessor Banerjee’s tenure, to procure gold and silver medallions worth lakhs to allegedly gift ‘dignitaries’.Such financial approvals were allegedly given by her in spite of the Central Vigilance Commission’s standing rules stating that PSUs are discouraged from giving expensive gifts to ‘dignitaries’.Moreover, no government official is allowed to accept any gifts during occasions such as Diwali, New Year’s Eve, Christmas, etc.Official gave approval to procure expensive ‘gifts’ between 2020 and 2021 While government rules permit giving gifts only to promote commercial or business interests, a top railway official had told The Wire in October 2022, “There has never been any need for the IRFC to bribe clients to give loans to the Union government in lieu of an interest in private entities to build wagons, rolling stocks, etc.”The official had spoken in connection with a case filed by the Railway vigilance department against then ‘IRFC employees’, including Banerjee, on 30 counts. These included allegations of financial misappropriation amounting to “$27,000”, having spent as “entertainment allowance” to buy “expensive watches, mobile phones, laptops, gold coins, expensive shawls, etc.”Following Banerjee’s exit, the Railway vigilance department noted the procurement of expensive gifts like gold and silver medallions, and pendants, from the Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC), during his term, prompting an inquiry.These official approvals to procure dozens of medallions (mementos) between 2020 and 2021 were allegedly given by Verma. These approvals under question have been perused by The Wire.Top IRFC officials fail to provide the list of beneficiariesDuring the vigilance inquiry, top IRFC officials, including Banerjee, failed to provide the list of ‘dignitaries’ who were recipients of the gold and silver medallions, pendants and bars, costing lakhs of public funds.The Wire has learnt recently that two independent members of the Railway Board whom IRFC officials had claimed to have gifted gold medallions denied receiving any, thus putting the needle of suspicion on the top officials, including the then CMD.The board members denied receiving any such gifts during the vigilance probe. In addition, IRFC officials failed to provide the list of beneficiaries, and thereby, how the PSU benefitted from it. Therefore, “officials of IRFC including Amitabh Banerjee” came under the scanner for alleged embezzlement of public funds.CBI files corruption case in AugustIn February 2023, the Vigilance Directorate of the Railways wrote to the CBI director to investigate the matter. On August 28, the CBI, taking note of the request made by Bhaskar Roy Choudhury, joint director Vigilance (Intelligence) Railway Board, filed an FIR in Delhi under various sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure.The Wire has seen a copy of the CBI FIR, which said, “[The] Vigilance Railway Board scrutinised two files of [the] IRFC and recorded statement and revealed serious irregularities with respect to procurement and distribution of gold and non-gold items. The extent of embezzlement is not provided in the complaint. The complaint alleged that private persons are also involved.”It further says “substantive offences” have been stacked up against Banerjee and “other unknown public servants and unknown private persons”.Shelly Verma is not named by the CBI in the August 28 case. The FIR has named only IRFC officials.However, it appears that Banerjee would have cleared the dubious purchases, which necessarily would have involved Verma, who, as mentioned earlier, was director (finance) at the PSU. That is why her name among the shortlisted candidates is questionable.In Banerjee’s case, too, while multiple instances of alleged corrupt practices and misuse of public money for personal gain was being investigated against him, the ministry and the Railway Board continued to keep him in the top post of the PSU, till The Wire published its report.Also read: Exclusive: Rail Ministry Overlooked CBI FIR Against Key PSU Head Named for Causing Rs 144 Crore LossTill then, as the PSU’s head, Banerjee was taking financial decisions on its behalf and had the right to seek foreign exchange from the Reserve Bank of India.A green signal to Shelley Verma’s credentials?In order to be able to hold the post of the CMD for a full term, the Vigilance Directorate of the Railways would also have to grant a green signal to Verma’s professional credentials and integrity.What is baffling is, while the railway vigilance department has found alleged embezzlement of funds due to an act in which Verma was closely involved, she has been allowed by the ministry and the Railway Board, thus far, to continue in the post of temporary CMD.On October 5, The Wire emailed a set of queries to the Union minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw; chairman and chief executive officer of the Railway Board, Jaya Verma Sinha; Anjali Goel, member (Finance) at the Railway Board; and Shobhana Bandopadhyay, principal executive director (vigilance) at the Railway Board, seeking answers to why an official under the scanner for alleged financial embezzlement has been shortlisted for the post.Among other questions, The Wire asked whether she has been granted vigilance clearance to hold the post, and also why she was appointed to temporarily take charge of the CMD in the first place, even after the CBI had filed a corruption case on the matter in August.This story will be updated as and when they respond.