FIR on commercial vehicles certificate 'scam' soon

RTI activist alleges CM, other officers involved

The Anti-Corruption Branch on Monday told a Delhi court that it will “shortly register” an FIR on a complaint, which alleged that the contract for lane testing of commercial vehicles to grant them fitness certificates was given to ESP India by the city government without inviting any tender.

The complaint alleging corruption in grant of contract had been filed against chief minister Sheila Dikshit and others.

The Anti-Corruption Branch said it will also file an investigation report  before the court on the next date of hearing. “The SPP has submitted they shall be proceeding as per law. Let them do so,”the court said in its order.

The agency, however, remained silent on complainant’s query as to whether they would be filing the FIR ‘on basis of and in terms of’ his complaint or on the basis of ACB’s status report in which they had given a clean chit to Dikshit and former transport minister Arvinder Singh Lovely.

The matter pertains to a complaint filed by RTI activist Vivek Garg against Dikshit and Lovely, alleging that the Delhi government gave the contract without inviting any tender.

The complaint also names former transport commissioner R K Verma and ESP India.
On the last date of hearing, the ACB had submitted a status report in the court saying although the contract was awarded to a private firm without a tender and with approval of the Cabinet “no irregularities” could be found on part of the chief minister and the transport minister.

The agreements dated February 27, 2008 and February 3, 2010 between transport department and ESP India were based on the conditions approved by the Cabinet of GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi).

“It was the primary duty of the transport department and ESP India to follow the same but was in vain and undue favour was given by the transport department to ESP India, who cheated the public by taking the extra fees without conducting the loaded emission test,” the ACB had said.