The court of Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh on Thursday has ordered formal framing of charges against suspended Excise Commissioner Anup Kumar Srivastava and four others in an alleged case of bribery.

Srivastava, superintendent Lallan Ojha, suspected middleman Hemant Gandhi and businessmen Ashok Agrawal and Dilip Agrawal have been charged by the CBI with criminal conspiracy, illegal gratification, criminal misconduct and abetment of criminal misconduct under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In its chargesheet, filed on on February 29, the CBI alleged that a team of officials from Central Excise had conducted an illegal raid at the godown of businessman Ashok Agrawal, an importer of mobile phones.

The team, led by accused Lallan Ojha, demanded a bribe of Rs 60 lakh from the businessman and his associate Dilip Agrawal to avoid action against them.

A false search was carried out and no records were created before, during or after the searches. Initially, an illegal gratification of Rs 2 crore was allegedly demanded, which was finally settled for Rs 60 lakh, a CBI officer had said.

Instead of making a complaint, the businessmen paid Rs 40 lakh in cash and issued a post-dated cheque of Rs 20 lakh to Ojha, the CBI said.

CBI prosecutor V K Sharma told the court that Gandhi was acting as middleman for Srivastava, Ojha and the others. The two businessmen have been charged with abetment of corruption.