Four MCD staffers, private firm honchos convicted

Four Municipal Corporation of Delhi employees and two directors of a private company have been convicted by a Special CBI court here in a case of corruption in a street-lighting project undertaken by the civic body during the Commonwealth Games of 2010.

A CBI spokesperson said here on Monday that the then Superintending Engineer D K Sugan, Executive Engineer O P <g data-gr-id="47">Mahla</g>, accountant Raju V and tender clerk Gurucharan Singh, all of whom were with MCD, have been convicted in the case along with the business entity Sweska Power Tech Engineers Pvt Ltd and its Managing Director, TP Singh, and Director, JP Singh. She said the quantum of the sentence will be pronounced on Tuesday.

CBI had alleged that the MCD officials had entered into a conspiracy while awarding the tender to the private firm for upgrading the <g data-gr-id="29">street-lighting</g> on roads in Delhi under the jurisdiction of the civic body.

They manipulated the tender documents of L-1, causing pecuniary loss of Rs 3.62 crore to the government and corresponding undue pecuniary advantage to the private firm.

“On conclusion of <g data-gr-id="45">trial</g>, the Court of Brijesh Garg, Special Judge, Tis Hazari Courts, has convicted all the accused... and fixed September 01, 2015, for pronouncement of the quantum of sentence. All the convicts have been taken into custody,” she said.

According to the charge sheet, tenders were invited by the civic agency in 2008 and five companies, including Sweska Power Tech, had applied for it with the MCD commissioner approving only three companies.

The unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was trifurcated in 2012 into the North, South and East Delhi municipal corporations. 

It was alleged that the private firm had fraudulently used fake documents for the tender that culminated in <g data-gr-id="42">July,</g> 2008, in an agreement between it and MCD for the street-lighting works.

The street-lightning scam is one of the irregularities that were committed in the run-up to the <g data-gr-id="35">October,</g> 2010, mega sports event in the national Capital.

According to the CBI charge sheet, after the opening of the tender and announcing of the rates by Sugan, certain cuttings and interpolations were made in the tender papers of <g data-gr-id="36">Sweska</g> and the amount quoted by it was increased. <g data-gr-id="40">Sugan</g> was alleged to be the “kingpin” of the conspiracy and had said that the tenders were opened in his office on May 14, 2008, and he had allowed fudging of <g data-gr-id="39">Sweska’s</g> tender papers. The agency had registered 19 FIRs in scams related to CWG, of which nine have been closed.