On December 20, 2025, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted multiple raids and arrested Lt Col Deepak Kumar Sharma in Delhi and his wife Col Kajal Bali in Sri Ganganagar allegedly for accepting bribes from a Dubai-based defence company in exchange for undue favours. Vinod Kumar, a civilian was also arrested for allegedly acting as the middleman and offering on behalf of the company in the bribery deal.
Lt Col Deepak Sharma was posted as Deputy Planning Officer in the International Cooperation & Exports division of the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence in Delhi while his wife Col Bali, CO, 16 Infantry Division Ordnance Unit, Sri Ganganagar—was named as a co-accused in the case.
Lt Col Sharma was reported to be “habitually” engaged in corrupt practices and sought illegal gratification in return for undue favours from representatives of private firms involved in defence manufacturing and exports.
Lt Col Sharma allegedly demanded a bribe from a Dubai-based company managed by Rajiv Yadav and Ravjit Singh from Bengaluru. The amount of ₹3 lakh was delivered to him on behalf of the company by Vinod Kumar Sharma on December 18, 2025.
The CBI reportedly received “reliable information” about this, and a case under CrPC Section 173(2) was registered on December 19, 2025. Subsequent searches conducted at multiple locations in Delhi, Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan), Bengaluru and Jammu led to recovery of ₹2.23 crore in cash from Col Sharma’s Delhi residence, and an additional ₹10 lakh from the residence of his wife, Col Kajal Bali in Sri Ganganagar.
Chargesheet Status
No charge sheet has been filed yet, as the case is in early stage of investigation and raids and evidence collection is continuing in multiple locations. However, CBI has to submit the chargesheet within 60-90 days of the arrest Under CrPC Section 173(2).
Name of the Dubai-based company
As of now, the CBI is focusing on tracing financial links and middlemen but the name of the Dubai-based defence company involved in the Lt Col Deepak Kumar Sharma bribery case has not been publicly disclosed. This is because the case is still in early stages of investigation, and disclosure of the company’s identity could compromise evidence collection.
Even in the past e.g., AgustaWestland, Denel cases the names of the companies involved were revealed only after charge sheets were filed in 60–90 days.
Role played by Rajiv Yadav and Ravjeet Singh in the scam
Both Rajiv Yadav and Ravjeet Singh have been identified as key coordinators or intermediaries handling India operations of the Dubai-based defence company in Bengaluru. They are the ones who allegedly helped facilitate the bribery network with Lt Col Deepak Kumar Sharma. Their role was to look after the company’s interests in India by exploiting Sharma’s position in the Defence Ministry. One of their main tasks was to ensure smooth and timey flow of bribe payments and approvals.
Bengaluru-based Rajiv Yadav – one of the primary representatives of the Dubai-linked company allegedly facilitated payment of bribe and coordinated with Sharma to curry favours in defence production and export approvals. His involvement is tied to documentary and digital evidence recovered during CBI raids.
Ravjeet Singh worked alongside Yadav in managing the company’s India operations and allegedly acted as a liaison between the company and Sharma. His main role was to ensure that the bribe was delivered through intermediaries like Vinod Kumar.
The modus operandi
- The Dubai-based company wanted favours in defence procurement and export clearances.
- Yadav and Singh as back-end coordinators, ensured timely payments and favours
- Vinod Kumar was the middleman or fall-guy who delivered the bribe
- Sharma, as Deputy Planning Officer in the Department of Defence Production, was in a position to influence approvals.
- Col Kajal Bali: Sharma’s wife was named co-accused as ₹10 lakh was recovered from her residence.
CBI probes: Bird’s eye view of corruption in the Armed Forces
The Sharma case exposes the persistent corruption in defence deals but is no way the only case of its kind. From the Jeep Scandal in the early 40 to Bofors scam in the 80s or Coffin Scam in the 90s there have been many corruption cases in defence forces since independence. Even though no consolidated figure exists for 1947–2025, just between 2000–2023, alone over 1,800 corruption cases were officially recorded in the Armed Forces.Almost 97% of 1,080 cases (2013–2021) involved procurement scams, recruitment bribes, ration embezzlement, and contract rigging by Army officers.
In fact, the birth of CBI itself is directly tied to corruption in defence deals.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) traces its origins to the Special Police Establishment (SPE), set up in 1941 during World War II to investigate rampant corruption in wartime defence procurement and supplies. In 1963, the Government of India formally established the CBI under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, with a mandate to probe corruption in defence deals. Over time, its jurisdiction was expanded beyond defence to include other government departments as well as other economic offences, political scandals and serious crimes.
(To be continued)
