The official is suspected to have helped the AIR duo in getting business from his department. While the husband-wife duo are currently under suspension following the CBI raids on their office and residences, the state official is likely to let off the hook. It is alleged that he had cleared work order for a private firm run on behalf of the two AIR staffers outside the knowledge of his superiors.

It was found during the probe that his letter clearing the firm for work was not there in the official records of the Agriculture Department. The CBI suspects the letter to be a fake one. “We are focussing only on the AIR staffers’ irregularity. We are not concerned with what their bosses do to their employees,” said Anand Somani, CBI SP.

On his part, the official claims innocence saying the AIR people are implicating him to save their own skin. “The only lapse on my part is that I failed to get the letter recorded in the outward dispatch register. In that letter, I only certified the work as satisfactory. It is wrong to say that I recommended work to them because it was already assigned and 25 per cent advance payment was made before the bill came... So, where is the question of recommending work?” he said, adding that he had cleared the position to the CBI.

The broadcast bill was already paid, and things came to light when the AIR demanded payment of the production bill from the Agriculture Department. It was then that all came to know that a sugar cooperative federation, which had sponsored the 30-episode programme, had made the payment, but the amount did not make it to the AIR coffers. The total cost of the programme was Rs 5 lakh, of which broadcast cost Rs 2.88 lakh.

AIR in-charge station director Sadhna Bhatt said that since their suspension in December 2007, AIR had not taken any action against them except placing them under suspension.

“We will take action as per what our directorate will tell us in this case. They were involved not just in the Agriculture Department, but also in cases of other government departments and GEER Foundation,” Bhatt said.

“We don’t know as to where the money that should come to AIR towards production charges has gone,” she added.