Sources in the GSFDC quoted a recent letter to this effect from the CBI office in Nagpur, and said a departmental inquiry had been in progress within the railways for the past three-odd years.

The controversy centres round a deal in March 1993, in which the GSFDC was to supply the Railways 15,000 wooden sleepers. The first consignment was received by the consignee in August 1995; when the first batch of that consignment was checked, 281 of 305 sleepers were found to be of substandard quality and were rejected. The other 7,857 sleepers were not inspected at the time.

In September 1996, the Railway Ministry wrote to the Secretary, Forest and Environment, in Gandhinagar with a copy to the GSFDC in Vadodara alleging `malpractices and irregularities adopted by GSFDC'' in supplying the sleepers. It said a vigilance case in this context had already been registered and Rs 5.87 lakhs (the cost of the rejected sleepers) recovered from the GSFDC. ``A further amount of about Rs 34 lakh (the remaining sleepers) has been held up''..., the letter, signed by the Director, Track(M), added.

The letter asked the State government to immediately inquire into the case as ``the act... has caused concern in the Union ministry about the quality control being exercised by the GSFDC''. It also called for ``necessary corrective action'' by the state government.

Sources said that, around the same time, the case was referred to the CBI by the Railway Ministry. The bureau has now sought details and documents from the GSFDC. A letter to this effect written by the CBI in October 1998 reached the GSFDC about a month ago.

GSFDC managing director D P S Verma, chief general manager M L Sharma and manager (Sale & Purchase) C V Pillai told Express Newsline that they were aware of the CBI letter, but had no details to offer.

A K Mishra, currently Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Gujarat who was managing director of the GSFDC during the period under question, said the corporation was not to blame as it had supplied the sleepers in proper condition.