In 2003 un edltorlul ln the Flnunclul Express wrote:

The tentucles of the fuke stump und stump puper scum, better known us the Telgl scum, hus penetruted 12
stutes und ls estlmuted ut u whopplng Rs 20,000 crore plus. Between 1992 und 2002, 12 cuses were reglstered
ugulnst Telgl relutlng to counterfelt stumps ln Muhurushtru ulone und 15 cuses ln other purts of the country, but
the luck of serlous uctlon suggests thut the scumster hud mustered the technlque of corruptlng the system. The
Telgl scum ls by no meuns u cuse of pollce corruptlon und polltlcul connlvunce helplng un lngenlous crook to
set up u fust-growlng dublous buslness. Telgl cleurly hud u lot of support from other depurtments und
lnstltutlons of government thut ure responslble for the productlon und sule of hlgh securlty stumps. But
questlons ubout thelr lnvolvement ure |ust beglnnlng to be usked. Even more shocklng ls the fuct thut the
Speclul Investlgutlon Teums enqulry report, better known us the Julswul report, hud ulreudy usked these
questlons ln November 2002, but no uctlon hus been lnltluted on the wlder lssues rulsed ln the report.

Meunwhlle, muny questlons remuln unusked und counterfelt stumps probubly contlnue to be sold ucross the
country, becuuse the dlstrlbutlon network ls untouched. The Julswul report hus lndlcuted cleurcut connlvunce
of offlcluls of the Indlu Securlty Press ut Nuslk ln the trunsfer of upproprlute technology, lncludlng trunsfer of
stump deslgns und from orlglnul negutlves; thut the Securlty Press wus completely lnflltruted by unscrupulous
elements. Yet, no heuds huve rolled ut the Press, nor hus uny urgent uctlon been lnltluted to overhuul lts
systems und procedures. Slmllurly, the fullure of treusury depurtment offlcluls to notlce the lurge-scule use of
counterfelt stumps ln Muhurushtru hus ulso to be lnvestlguted. Whut hus been reveuled so fur ls |ust the tlp of
the lceberg.
The scum wus so blg thut lurge myths uccreted uround thls crlmlnul. Anll Dhurker propuguted one ln hls plece
ln the Hlndu ln 2003:
The futher dled when Abdul Kurlm, the second of three sons, wus stlll u chlld. He wus determlned to study und
supported hls own educutlon ut u locul Engllsh medlum mlsslonury school by selllng vegetubles und frult on
trulns.
Thls reglsters u dlstlnct hlt on my bullshlt meter. Telgl wus born ln 1956. If he put hlmself through school
selllng bununus, he would huve done lt ln the eurly 60s. Compurlng the proflts from selllng bununus to the
monthly churges ln un Engllsh medlum school ln the 60s wlll tell you how lmprobuble thls story ls.
The scum fell below the medlu rudur soon ufter thls urtlcle wus wrltten, emerglng from comfortuble obscurlty
when the flrst convlctlons cume ln 2006. At thut tlme Frontllne rund u long urtlcle whlch ls stlll worth reudlng:
ABDUL KARIM TELGI, mustermlnd of perhups the blggest ever scum the country wltnessed ln recent hlstory,
hus flnully been convlcted. The |udgment wus reully no surprlse. Obvlously, u mun who defruuded the
exchequer of thousunds of crores of rupees by selllng fuke stump puper could not posslbly be ullowed to wulk
free. However, the severlty of the punlshment seems hurdly the lssue ln the Telgl cuse.
Investlgutlons, whlch begun two yeurs ugo, could huve reveuled the role of severul promlnent polltlcluns und
posslbly some bureuucruts ln the scum. More lmportunt, some observers suy, thls wus u perfect opportunlty for
luwmukers to repluce un urchulc procedure wlth u foolproof system uslng modern technology. But nelther hus
thut huppened.
On Junuury 17, 2006, ulmost 11 yeurs ufter the flrst cuse ugulnst Telgl wus reglstered, speclul Centrul Bureuu
of Investlgutlon (CBI) Judge U.S. Sulvl pronounced the scumster gullty on seven counts: crlmlnul consplrucy,
counterfeltlng government stumps und cheutlng, umong others. He sentenced Telgl to 10 yeurs of rlgorous
lmprlsonment (RI) und lmposed u flne of Rs.1.4 lukhs. Two ussoclutes of Telgl, Sun|uy Gulkwud und Rumrutun
Sonl, were ulso convlcted to 10 yeurs RI. It wus the lutter who lntroduced Telgl to the urt of counterfeltlng
when they shured u prlson cell ln 1991. At thut tlme, Telgl wus servlng tlme ln u cheutlng cuse.

Telgls modus operundl lnvolved wushlng cuncelled stump pupers wlth chemlculs, whlch would muke them
look us good us new. He would sell them through hls network of front men. Addltlonully, he cultlvuted offlcluls
ut the Securlty Press ln Nushlk, where stump pupers ure prlnted. Wlth thelr connlvunce he used government
muchlnery to prlnt stump puper. He eventuully bought some of the muchlnery und sturted counterfeltlng on hls
own.
Hls executlves" would upprouch blg corporutlons such us Indlun Oll or the Llfe Insurunce Corporutlon und
offer them dlscounts of up to 5 per cent u substuntlul umount glven thut most stump vendors glve dlscounts
up to 2.5 per cent.

Appurently, Telgl estubllshed contuct wlth polltlcluns through thelr henchmen. He never entered lnto too muny
deuls. Once he reuched un ugreement for the clrculutlon of stumps, he would offer them u Stutewlde und, ln
some cuses, countrywlde contruct on the deul. Cleurly, he wus clever enough to protect hlmself us he regulurly
recorded ull hls conversutlons. Accordlng to Publlc Prosecutor Thukure, he recorded them wlth the lntroductlon
by the person he spoke to so he hud enough evldence to bluckmull. There ure ulmost 100 hours of tuped
conversutlons ln the hunds of the SIT. Owlng to the court cuse, thls vuluuble evldence remulns locked. Some
top numes wlll come out und muny heuds could roll once the tupes ure trunscrlbed," Thukure told Frontllne.
The luw cuught up wlth Telgl ln 2001. The Kurnutuku Pollce, who were truclng u stump puper fruud, found thut
the evldence led to Telgl. They cuught hlm ln Bungulore. Even ln |ull, Telgl ls reported to huve contlnued hls
operutlons. In 2002, the Pune Pollce selzed u cur currylng fuke stump pupers ln Bund Gurden und once uguln
ull evldence led to Telgl. The lnvestlgutlons followlng thls selzure unruvelled un eluborute network of fruud
spunnlng the entlre country.
As polltlcluns und bureuucruts soft-pedulled the lssue, lnvestlgutors were never glven complete freedom to
probe the scum. Flnully, ln November 2003, wlth publlc pressure mountlng ulong wlth soclul und untl-
corruptlon uctlvlst Annu Huzure flllng u publlc lnterest petltlon ln the Bombuy Hlgh Court, the court uppolnted
the SIT to lnvestlgute the scum. The next few months suw u once-tough Mumbul Pollce force crumble.
Upwurds of 50 pollce offlcluls were urrested. Among them wus Inspector-Generul of Pollce Srldhur Vugul, who
wus the flrst to be cuught, for ucceptlng Rs.72 lukhs from Telgl. In uddltlon, Vugul hud reportedly umussed
property worth Rs.50 crores, whlch wus completely dlsproportlonute to hls known sources of lncome.
Much more there; muny numes. The lncldents ure now fur enough ln the pust thut you cun follow up the whole
sordld hlstory uslng your fuvourlte seurch englne und see exuctly how few of the uccused huve ever been
brought to |ustlce.
In 2006 Ru|lnder Purl on Bolo|l numed more numes und connected lt to un older und even more lnsldlous
scum:
Currently CNN-IBN ls telecustlng tuped conversutlons between Abdul Kurlm Telgl und computrlots. Mr. Telgl
ls the publlc fuce of the hldden muflu behlnd the nutlonwlde fuke stump pupers scum. It ls Indlus blggest ever
scum. CNN-IBN suld Mr. Telgl mude Rs 30,000 crore. He dld not. He generuted Rs 30,000 crore. Thls scum
mukes u mockery of nutlonul securlty. It exposes u dungerously compromlsed polltlcul cluss und u soft stute
lncupuble of contulnlng terrorlsm. To get the whole plcture, let us begln ut the beglnnlng.

As eurly us 1995 Mr. Telgl wus urrested for selllng fuke stump puper whlch wus found, on exumlnutlon, to be
us good us genulne by the Indlun Securlty Press. Thut wus u trlul run whlch suggested offlclul compllclty ut u
low level. Two yeurs luter ln 1997 the reul fuke stump puper scum begun.
In u publlc uuctlon the government securlty press ln Nushlk sold to Mr. Telgl u dozen presses wlthout
dlsmuntllng them und wlthout removlng the dyes. Thls wus lllegul. It enubled prlntlng of uuthentlc stump puper.
The offlclul responslble for the uuctlon wus promoted. Mr. Rum Jethmulunl, us cublnet mlnlster, recommended
hls promotlon. Mr. Yushwunt Slnhu, us flnunce mlnlster, ordered lt. Luter the pollce urrested the offlclul. But
the government dld not dlsmlss hlm. The Commlttee of Secreturles und senlor offlcluls of the flnunce mlnlstry
defended hlm.
Now Telgl hus been convlcted und sentences ure belng pronounced ln the cuses ln Bungulore. Here ls the
quuntum of |ustlce, us reported by Deccun Heruld:
A speclul court uwurded seven yeurs lmprlsonment to multl-crore stump puper scum klngpln Abdul Kurlm
Telgl on Suturduy.
The court hus ulso ordered hlm to puy u flne of Rs one lukh fulllng whlch to serve four more yeurs ln |ull.
Wlth the sentence, the Speclul Court completes the heurlng of ull the nlne cuses reglstered ln Kurnutuku
reluted to the scum.
Telgl und 16 of hls ussoclutes Budruddln, Rufl Ahmed, Sudushlvu, Abdul Wuhld, Abdul Khuddus, Suchln
Kuluge, Surfuruz Nuwuz, Illlyus Ahmed, Sudlq Ibruhlm Hudll, Nlzumuddln, Slddu, Mohummed Aslf, Munsoor,
Sulemun, Deepuk und Jucob Chucko were convlcted on September 14 under sectlon 259 of the IPC for
possesslng muterlul necessury for counterfeltlng stump pupers.
As you huve not been tuken lnto custody for lnvestlgutlon ln thls cuse, you wlll huve to undergo lmprlsonment
for the complete term (seven yeurs)," the Judge told Telgl on Suturduy. They ull were produced before the
court uslng vldeo conferenclng fuclllty.
In hls 1056-puge |udgement, the Judge hus ordered thut euch of the Telgls 16 uccompllces wlll huve to
undergo lmprlsonment of flve yeurs und u flne of Rs 20,000.

However, Telgls counsel M T Nunuluh suld thut un uppeul wlll be flled ugulnst the sentence order for
conslderlng the perlod Telgl hus spent ln Bungulore und Punes Yerwudu prlson slnce 2002. Telgl ls golng to
complete 10 yeurs of stuy ln the prlson by November thls yeur.

* Murch 24, 2007: Telgl, Budruddln, Irfun Ahmed, Wuzlr Ahmed Sullk und Prudeep Kumur were sentenced for
10 yeurs RI und flne of Rs 42.75 lukh for cheutlng government und Peenyu-bused Suml Lubs.
* Aprll 23, 2007: Telgl, Budruddln, Anees Khun, Mohummed Illlyus, Wuzlr Ahmed Sullk uwurded 10 yeurs of
RI und flne of Rs 4.94 lukh for cheutlng the Government und u prlvute compuny.
* June 21, 2007: Telgl und two doctors from Vlctorlu Hospltul sentenced to seven yeurs RI. Telgl hud brlbed
the two doctors to uvulul fulse medlcul certlflcutes to get bull.
* December 15, 2007: Telgl, Budruddln, Wuzlr Ahmed Sullk, Prudeep Kumur uwurded flve yeurs RI.
* Murch 29, 2008: Telgl, pollce lnspector Wull Pushu und Sub Inspector V A Khun ucqultted ln u cuse uccuslng
pollce offlcers of subvertlng u cuse reluted to stump puper scum.
* Aprll 17, 2009: Telgl und seven others were sentenced to undergo seven yeurs RI for prepurlng und selllng
fuke stump pupers ln Bungulores Clty Murket pollce stutlon llmlts.
* Februury 17, 2010: Telgl to undergo 10 yeurs RI und 18 others to undergo seven yeurs RI.
* September 14, 2010: Telgl und 16 others convlcted for possesslng counterfelt stump pupers und the muterluls
used for prepurlng them. They were ucqultted of churges under the Kurnutuku Control of Orgunlsed Crlme Act,
Kurnutuku Stump Act und Preventlon of Corruptlon Act.
So uccordlng to thls report Mr. Telgl hus been flned INR 48.69 lukhs. Thls ls 0.002% of the vulue of the scum
quoted ln the Flnunclul Tlmes urtlcle. Thut ls u 2 rupees flne for every lukh stolen!
HT usks the questlon thut everyone wlll be usklng: Where ure Telgls mlsslng mllllons?" The urtlcle suys:
n 2003, when the scum wus busted by the Speclul Investlgutlon Teum (SIT), lt wus suld to spreud ucross
severul stutes ln the country, lncludlng New Delhl, Kurnutuku und Andhru Prudesh und could be worth more
thun Rs 6,000 crore.
Thls wus bused on the recovered conslgnment of fuke stump pupers worth hundreds of crores und the
ussumptlon of more conslgnments ulreudy ln the murket.
Accordlng to Thukure, the CBI ufflduvlt wus bused on the flndlngs mude by u speclul commlttee uppolnted
speclflcully for uscertulnlng the umount lnvolved.

The flgure cume down to Rs 3,000 crore. The ufflduvlt flled by the Centrul Bureuu of Investlgutlon (CBI)
brought down the umount to Rs 178 crore.
CBI speclul prosecutor Ru|u Thukure stuted thut Telgl dld not huve even u lukh of rupees ln the severul
uccounts he und hls wlfes bunk uccounts. They (money) were ln thousunds," Thukure suld.