Cycle import scam

Cycles imports scam took place in 1951. SA Venkataraman who was the industrial minister was bribed and he gave the permission to a foreign country for the sale of their company cycles.

Jeep scandal case

The jeep scandal in 1948 was first major corruption case in independent India. V.K. Krishna Menon, the then Indian high commissioner to Britain, ignored protocols and signed a Rs 80 lakh contract for the purchase of army jeeps with a foreign firm
Corruption allegations

V. K. Krishna Menon, then the Indian high commissioner to Britain, bypassed protocol to sign a deal worth Rs 80 lakh with a foreign firm for the purchase of army jeeps. While most of the money was paid upfront, just 155 jeeps landed,the then Prime Minister Nehru forced the government to accept them.Govind Ballabh Pant the then Home Minister and the then Government of Indian National Congress announced on September 30, 1955 that the Jeep scandal case was closed for judicial inquiry ignoring suggestion by the Inquiry Committee led by Ananthsayanam Ayyangar.He declared that "as far as Government was concerned it has made up its mind to close the matter. If the opposition was not satisfied they can make it an election issue". Soon after on February 3,1956 Krishna Menon was inducted into the Nehru cabinet as minister without portfolio.Later Krishna Menon became Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's trusted ally and the defense minister.

Jeep purchase (1948) 80 lakh (US$144,800)

Jeep purchase (1948)

 

VK Krishna Menon

The history of corruption in post-Independence India starts with the Jeep scandal in 1948. VK Krishna Menon, the then High Commissioner for India in London signed a deal with a foreign firm worth Rs 80 lakh for jeeps for the Indian Army in Kashmir without observing normal procedure.

The then Government announced on September 30, 1955 that the Jeep scandal case was closed, despite the demand of the opposition for judicial inquiry as suggested by the Inquiry Committee led by Ananthsayanam Ayyangar.

Union Minister GB Pant said "that as far as Government was concerned it has made up its mind to close the matter. If the opposition is not satisfied they can make it an election issue."

Soon after, on February 3, 1956 VK Krishna Menon was inducted into the Nehru cabinet as minister without portfolio.