CBI Court Lucknow rules on 2003–04 telecom scam; officials caused wrongful loss of ₹88 lakh through illegal international call routing
Lucknow – A special CBI court in Lucknow has convicted two former Sub-Divisional Engineers (SDE) of BSNL in a long-running international calling fraud case, sentencing them to two years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of ₹10 lakh each. The case pertains to a major illegal ISD call operation detected in the Gorakhpur BSNL Group Exchange between 2003 and 2004.
The convicted officers — Hari Ram Shukla and Gulab Chand Chaurasia — were posted in the Group Exchange at the time of the fraud. According to the court, both officials misused their technical authority to provide international calling facilities to select PCO owners and subscribers without proper authorization, causing significant revenue loss to the state-run telecom operator.
Fraudulent operation ran for a year using unauthorized routing
According to the CBI investigation, the conspiracy was active from September 2003 to September 2004. The accused, in connivance with local PCO owners and individual telephone subscribers:
- Enabled 06 PCO owners
- And 18 subscribers
to make unbilled ISD calls using their local landline connections.
Instead of routing the calls through the Bansgaon Telephone Exchange, the accused diverted them directly via the Trunk Automatic Exchange (TAX) — bypassing the metering system and ensuring that the calls did not get recorded or billed.
This manipulation led to a wrongful loss of ₹88,42,112 to the exchequer, as international call charges never reached BSNL’s billing system.
Case registered in 2008; chargesheet filed in 2010
Upon receiving source-based information, the CBI registered the case on 18 September 2008, invoking charges related to criminal conspiracy, cheating, and misuse of government resources.
Following detailed investigation, a chargesheet was filed on 01 May 2010 against:
1- Hari Ram Shukla
2- Gulab Chand Chaurasia
3- Siya Ram Agrahari — the then Junior Telecom Officer, BSNL
Two convicted after full trial; one acquitted
After examining the evidence and hearing arguments, the special court found the prosecution case proved against two accused, while Siya Ram Agrahari was acquitted of all charges due to lack of adequate evidence.
While awarding the sentence, the court observed:
“Abuse of official authority to benefit private parties cannot be tolerated, especially when it results in loss of public money and damages national interest.”
System-level corruption flagged; strong deterrence expected
Investigation records show that the accused officers:
- Disabled call monitoring systems, and
- Bypassed anti-revenue leakage safeguards,
allowing fraudulent calls to pass undetected.
The matter is seen as a clear instance of collusion between government officials and external beneficiaries to exploit systemic gaps.
Security agencies believe the verdict sends a strong message in the telecom sector, where illegal international routing continues to pose revenue and security risks.
CBI reiterates commitment to protect public resources
Following the judgment, the CBI stated that it will continue to strengthen vigilance and legal action against those responsible for misusing government infrastructure and causing financial losses to public institutions.
