CBI files chargesheet in Dow pesticide case

A special CBI court in Panchkula on Tuesday framed charges against a senior Central government official and his aide, who were allegedly bribed $32,000 by officers of Dow Agro Sciences India Ltd Mumbai, a subsidiary of Dow Chemicals, to push substandard pesticides in the Indian market.

Special CBI judge A S Narang on Tuesday framed charges against Ratan Lal Rajak and middleman Satyabroto Banerjee under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act.

Rajak was posted as a plant protection advisor to the government of India at the directorate of plant protection, quarantine & storage in Faridabad.

According to the chargesheet, Rajak was a member of all the three committees of the Faridabad-based directorate that allowed the sale of DE-Nocil products in India.

The Dow scam was unearthed by US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2007. It had also fined Dow Chemicals $325,000 for bribing the officials in India to fast-track permission to sell its pesticide brands that are banned in the US and many other countries.

The bureau had filed the chargesheet in 2010 on the basis of information given by US authorities.

In 2001, Dow Chemicals had taken over the Union Carbide Company, which was lying closed after the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.