Highlight
- Railways has released the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) MD. has terminated the services of
- Senior railway officials said that there are many allegations against Agnihotri.
- Satish Agnihotri declined to officially comment on the allegations against him
Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train: Indian Railways has terminated the services of National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) Managing Director Satish Agnihotri, who was in charge of the government’s bullet train project.
The Competent Authority has approved the dismissal of Satish Agnihotri from the post of Managing Director, National High Speech Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL). Therefore, it is directed that the officer be relieved with immediate effect.
The Competent Authority has also decided that Rajendra Prasad, IRSE, Director (Projects)/NHSRCL may be asked to look after the duties of the post of MD/NHSRCL.
Vice Satish Agnihotri, other than his own, for a period of three months, from the date of assumption of charge or until further orders, whichever is earlier. Kindly inform the date of acceptance of the change by the officer.
Many allegations against Agnihotri
Senior railway officials said that there are several charges against Agnihotri, including abuse of official position and unauthorized use of funds to a private company.
He said the decision to terminate Agnihotri’s services came after the order of the Lokpal court of June 2, in which the CBI was asked by the former NHSRCL MD during his nine-year tenure with a private company for allegedly “quid pro quo”. It was directed to investigate the allegations of the deal. CMD Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).
The Lokpal court has directed the CBI to “find out whether an offense is made out under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988” against Agnihotri and submit the inquiry report to the Lokpal office within six months or before December 12, 2022. .
NHSRCL, a Joint Venture of Govt.
NHSRCL is a joint venture between the Government of India and the participating states to implement high-speed rail projects.
The officials also alleged that Agnihotri took up a job in a private firm within a year of his retirement.
This was in violation of government rules that bar retired officers from accepting professional employment before one year of retirement without the approval of the Centre.
Sources close to Agnihotri said the senior bureaucrat has denied all the allegations and said that he did not favor any particular company and neither his son had worked in any firm which got such jobs.
He said Agnihotri also said that he had written to the DoPT seeking waiving off the one-year cooling-off period before joining the firm. When contacted, Agnihotri refused to comment on the matter.
Officials said the complaint against him was made by one of his batchmates after he got the coveted job of head of NHSRCL, the implementing agency of the government’s ambitious bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Agnihotri, a 1982 batch IRSE officer, joined NHSRCL in July 2021. Prior to this he was the Chairman and Managing Director of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).
He has more than 20 years of experience in the implementation of Mega Rail Infrastructure Projects.
He also held the position of Chairman, High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (HSRC), a wholly owned subsidiary of RVNL, from July 2012 to August 2018.
The HSRC was the agency on the Indian side to carry out various high-speed studies, which were carried out on a government-to-government basis with China and Spain.
The Railways, which has issued an order to terminate Agnihotri’s service, declined to officially comment on the allegations against him.
,With inputs from PTI,
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