JOIN USKejri govt digs up another 'scam'
A day after registration of an FIR over a street lighting scam related to the Commonwealth Games 2010, the Delhi government Friday directed the Anti-Corruption Bureau to file another case on wrongdoings during the construction of a road bypass for the sporting event.
The bypass was built in 2010 on Ring Road as part of the preparations for the games, an official statement said.
The Delhi government had called for several files, documents, tender related papers, CAG reports and the Shunglu Committee reports related to works executed during the CWG.
After scrutiny, it appeared that the two phases of the projects were executed by the same builder and the cost of the work was inflated to cause loss of crores of rupees to the exchequer, the statement released by the Delhi government late Friday night said.
The government said the ACB has now been told to probe alleged irregularities worth Rs 184 crore in the construction of the Ring Road bypass. On Thursday, on the basis of the Delhi government’s request, the ACB had registered an FIR to probe the multi-crore street lighting scam, where Dikshit’s role had come under the scanner.
The decision was taken on the basis of the Prime Minister-appointed high-level Shunglu Committee report, which alleged that financial lapses happened in the construction work for the bypass from Salimgarh Fort to Velodrome Road.
The ACB has so far not registered an FIR in the Ring Road bypass case, official sources said.
The project was awarded to private contractors in two parts – Package-I for works on flyovers, and Package-II related to major part of work on roads – at a cost of Rs 407 crore, according to the press release issued by the Delhi government.
It is alleged that the private contractor inflated charges for the use of men and material in the project. The alleged loss to the government is estimated at Rs 184 crore, it said.
The government alleged that a cartel was formed by contractors who entered into a nexus with government officials for carrying out the works, leading to a loss of Rs 198 crore to the exchequer.
“A loss of this magnitude could not have occurred without the knowledge of functionaries at the highest level of the executive,” the statement said. “Accordingly, the government of NCT of Delhi referred the matter to the Anti-Corruption Branch for a thorough and impartial investigation and necessary action,” it said.