CBI probe finds further irregularities by Delhi Govt in 'Talk to AK' programme

Before registering a case against Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and many government officers under the Prevention of Corruption Act in 'Talk to AK' programme scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is trying to establish 11 violations and irregularities made while awarding the contract to Perfect Relations.

The agency was astonished to find that in the Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) files, there were remarks of Gajendra Haldea, Member, Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC), wherein he has opined that the commission had engaged some consultants and a similar pattern could be seen in the 'Talk to AK' programme.

It was revealed that DDC had engaged six consultants for a remuneration of Rs 1,55,000 per month. When a similar pattern was followed, it was clear that one consultant could have been appointed on remuneration. Instead, the government chose to spend Rs 1,05,00,000 through Perfect Relations for the same work, thus wasting the taxpayers money.

"It is not understood why those consultants were hired when the work is being done through private agencies," the document noted.

The other issue regards the use of Google, YouTube and Facebook. These three agencies had allegedly been hired by Perfect Relations to run the social media campaign on their networks, thus flouting official norms. As per the documents accessed by DNA, the agency is trying to find out why the Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) has claimed that Google, YouTube and Facebook are not proprietary in nature.

"Why did DIP not see that there are other competitors such as Yahoo, Instagram, Rediff, Twitter and others," the enquiry documents stated.

Furthermore, DIP while awarding the contract has mentioned that as far as Google and YouTube were concerned, they can have a credit line which can enable one to make payment within 60 days but the same is not available with Facebook. The agency stated that they are unable to understand what circumstances compelled the DIP to ask Perfect Relations to make payment to those agencies and reclaim it later on.

The agency also stated that if the modalities of the programme was discussed on June 26, 2016 in the presence of all stake-holders, then why was the proposal initiated only on July 6, 2016. "Further, what was the compelling necessity to launch it on July 8, 2016? It appears that the delay is caused to avoid the thorough examination and to subvert the process of tender," the documents stated.

They agency is also probing why the DIP or any other consultant or officer did not communicate with Google, YouTube or Facebook to ascertain the procedure, rates, and mode of payment, specially when in the case of Google and YouTube credit line facilities of 60 days is available with DIP.

The CBI has so far established that the proposal submitted by Perfect Relations was an ex-facie case to conflict of interest where the consultant voluntarily and ethically became the beneficiary of its own advice in terms of both selection and potential financial implications. They have found that the Pr. Secretary (Finance) Dharmendar Sharma recommended for termination of the contract of the consultant on July 14 and for not releasing the payment but now they are trying to establish why his suggestions and recommendations were over-ruled by Sisodia.

"It is a clear violation of Rule 154 (Single Tender Enquiry) and Rule 184 (outsourcing by choice) of the General Financial Rules as no detail justification is given except the urgency and time constraint," the documents stated.

The agency is unable to understand that why the Cabinet Note placed before the council of Ministers on September 1, 2016 and till date the actual amount to be paid along with bills and proof making payment has neither been mentioned nor placed on the DIP file.

"Rather the Honourable Deputy Chief Minister (Sisodia) acceded to by Honble Delhi Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) on September 1, 2016, remarked on the file (saying) "the matter is already delayed in view of this it may be placed in today's Cabinet meeting," the agency stated.

Further they are probing what led to Perfect Relations to forgo their agency fees and also agreed to make payment of more than Rs 1 crore to the agencies. "The reason needs to be specified and probed properly," the document stated.

The CBI is also trying to find out that when the work had already been executed in July 2016, then what was the urgency for placing it before the Council of Ministers, as a tabled item, without obtaining comments of Law and Judicial and planning Department as suggested by Secretary DIP SS Yadav.

In the end, the agency said that they have so far not found any justification on the DIP file as to why the programme was being done. "No public purpose seems to be served to citizens of Delhi as the target audience is from other states also Punjab, Gujarat, Goa where elections are scheduled in early 2017. It is also not understood as to why it is launched on a pan India basis," it stated.

The CBI has already registered a preliminary enquiry against Manish Sisodia for irregularities in awarding a contract of a hour-long interactive session 'Talk to AK' on January 18, 2017. This case regards an interactive session where Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held 'Talk to AK' on the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann ki Baat' on July 17 last year —where he took questions through social media. But, he allegedly used this opportunity to reach out to people of Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab, apart from Delhi, by spending taxpayers' money to the tune of Rs 1.05 crore.