Giving up a nearly one-year-old probe, the Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to close a preliminary enquiry into the receipt of $2,300 in an envelope at the finance minister's office in New Delhi.
The preliminary enquiry registered in March last year related to an envelope received at the minister's office through ordinary post that contained the US currency and a 'thank you' note for 'granting permission for extension of a senior official of the Central Excise department.'
The employee was due to retire on January 31, 2006 but the government had given him an extension of service till March 31, 2006.
During its inquiry, the CBI questioned the officer whose address was mentioned on the envelop as 'sender' but found nothing adverse against him, official sources said.
The CBI found no representation made from his side to the Union finance ministry for any extension and his service record was described by the agency as 'very clean.'
Finally, the envelope was sent to the Central Forensic and Scientific Laboratory (CFSL) to ascertain whether any clue could be lifted from the computer-printed address or the addressee, the sources said.
The CFSL, in its report recently submitted to the CBI, said it could lift no evidence from the typed address on the envelope and that no fingerprints were available on it. In light of this dead end in the probe, the agency is now likely to close the case and deposit the foreign currency with the exchequer, they said.