Former Arunachal Pradesh CM Nabam Tuki in CBI trouble again

Former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki is in trouble with the CBI as it registered a fresh case against the top politician in connection with charges of nepotism and corruption related to a contract for the construction of a Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) school boundary wall.

The registration of an FIR came after a preliminary enquiry. It alleged that officials of the Public Works Department, Arunachal Pradesh awarded several work orders "arbitrarily" to firms owned or controlled by family members of Tuki, the then minister of PWD and Urban Development.

Work orders were given allegedly at Tuki's behest without inviting tenders, which caused wrongful loss to the state government and corresponding "wrongful" gain to the minister and relatives, the CBI FIR said.

The latest case is related to the award of work of construction of raising a boundary wall of Kendriya Vidyalaya No 1 at Salt Lake in Kolkata by the Arunachal government to M/s Jumsi Enterprise, a proprietorship firm of Tuki's sister-in-law Nabam Aka at a cost of Rs 13.18 lakh without following norms and inviting tenders.

The work to Arunachal Pradesh PWD was awarded by the then Commissioner of Kendriya Vidyalaya suo motu in 2005 despite the fact it "did not have required establishment and wherewithal" in Salt Lake area where construction was to take place.

According to the FIR, the Principal of the Kendriya Vidyalaya separately moved a proposal for constructing a boundary wall after obtaining a preliminary estimate from the Arunachal PWD as the work has already been assigned the work.

The Commissioner accorded administrative approval and expenditure sanction for Rs 14.71 lakh based on the estimate provided by the Arunachal PWD. Simultaneously, the first instalment of Rs 10 lakh was also released.

The CBI FIR said, the estimate submitted by the Arunachal PWD was accepted in toto without getting any rates from any other contractor.

The scope of the work was later increased on the request of the Principal for the construction of a second exit gate for Rs 1.87 lakh. No attempt was made by the KV authorities to get competitive bids from different organisations like the CPWD or state PWDs.

A Junior Engineer of the Arunachal PWD assigned for the work told CBI during preliminary enquiry that he met Tuki at Kolkata airport in the presence of some officials during which Tuki introduced his sister-in-law to him and asked him to help her by assigning construction works.

After this, the CBI claimed, Tuki awarded the work to Jumsi Enterprises without inviting competitive bids.

"There was personal inclination in awarding of the said contract and no eligibility or experience was counted on," the FIR said.

The preliminary enquiry also revealed the construction of the second exit gate was given to SB Enterprise, which is owned by Sraboni Bhattacharjee, the junior engineer in the Arunachal PWD who claimed that he had met Tuki at the airport.

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