Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena accepted the request for a CBI inquiry into the purchase of 1,000 low-floor buses. Read on to know about the allegations leveled against the Delhi government.
The CBI had last month registered a preliminary inquiry into alleged corruption during the purchase of 1,000 low-floor buses by the Delhi government. (representative image)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will now probe the alleged corruption in the purchase of 1,000 low-end buses by the Delhi government after the approval of Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
The request was made on the basis of a complaint received by Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar in June.
what are the charges
The complaint in June alleged irregularities in the appointment of Delhi’s transport minister as the chairman of the committee on tender and purchase of DTC buses. It also said that the appointment of Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) as Management Consultant for the tender was done with a view to facilitate irregularities in procurement.
The complaint was forwarded to the Chief Secretary for seeking comments from the concerned departments of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD).
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The lieutenant governor received a report from the chief secretary in August that found serious discrepancies in the tender process. “There is a gross violation of Central Vigilance Commission guidelines and general financial rules,” the report said. It also said that DIMTS was deliberately made a consultant to support discrepancies in the tender process. Last year, the bus purchase tender was canceled following a complaint.
Similar discrepancies were also pointed out in a report by the Commissioner of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).
Preliminary investigation by investigating agency
The CBI had last month registered a preliminary inquiry into alleged corruption during the purchase of 1,000 low-floor buses by the Delhi government. However, the investigating agency did not register an FIR.
In August last year, the Home Ministry had recommended a CBI probe into the matter following corruption in the Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) of bus purchases by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), which was raised by the BJP in the Assembly last year.
Then a report was submitted by a three-member committee on the instructions of the then Lieutenant Governor (LG) Anil Baijal.
Thereafter, the LG referred the matter to the Ministry of Home Affairs for consideration.
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