Censor Board chief charged Rs 1.5 lakh to clear a film in 3 days!

The Central Bureau of Investigation CBI which arrested the CEO of the Central Board of Film Certification popularly known as the Censor Board on Monday found in its investigations that Kumar had a fixed rate card for bribes in exchange for giving a CBFC certificate to different kinds of films Kumar allegedly also had agents in place for making these transactions on his behalfKumar was sent to custody till August 22 after he was produced in court yesterday PicPTIKumar was sent to custody till August 22 after he was produced in court yesterday The CBI told the special court that he was charging Rs 15 lakh for clearing a film in 34 days Rs 25000 for screening and clearing it in 78 days and Rs 15000 for clearing smallbudget films and documentaries in three days He even had rates for ad films Rs 2000 for a threeday clearance or Rs 10000 for a goahead on the same dayOn raiding his house at Badhwar Park Colaba the CBI officers found 33 luxury watches of brands like Rolex Tissot Rado and Longines Rs 105 lakh in cash and jewellery They have also learnt that he has two bank lockers and did several cash transactions in his Delhi bank accountFasttrack clearanceKumarrsquos involvement came to the fore after the CBI arrested Shripat Mishra a Censor Board certification agent for accepting Rs 50000 from a producer of a Chhattisgarhi film Mor Dauki Ke Bihav slated for an August 15 releaseMishra would pay the money to a panel member Sarvesh Jaiswal who in turn would pay Kumar for clearing the film The CEO had allegedly demanded R70000 for clearing the Chhattisgarhi film but the producer had negotiated it to Rs 50000 The CBI said it would check all the movies that were cleared by Kumar ever since he took charge in JanuaryThey will also call producers and directors of some movies in which they find money has been paid ldquoWe are also waiting for some producers to approach us with complaints against Kumar We have learnt that Mishra was an agent of film producers and he could get films cleared in a short span of time by paying money in CBFC He would pay Jaiswal who in turn could pay the CEO Kumarrdquo said a CBI officialNormally it takes the CBFC around 15 days to provide a clearance certificate if any objections are raised the Board brings it to the notice of the producers and gets the necessary changes made before issuing a certificate However if the producer has already committed to a release date through agents they approach the CEO to expedite the clearance so as to not renege on their commitmentsA witness has told the CBI that Kumar has accepted around Rs 25 lakh from different agents to clear movies quickly ldquoKumar is not cooperating with the investigations He is trying to fool us by giving vague answers We are questioning him about the cash flow and are also writing to the banks where he has two lockersrdquo added the officialWhat may nail Kumar is footage of Jaiswal handing over Rs 40000 cash to him from another deal at Infiniti Mall in Andheri which CBI has managed to get their hands on and will use as evidence in building their case