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E-tendering fraud: Court directs ACB to question 22 civic officials, 40 contractors

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In what could bring ignominy to the BMC, the Bombay city civil court has directed the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) to file an FIR against 22 senior civic officials, including a ward officer (Devendra Jain, P-North office), in connection with an alleged e-tendering fraud.

In the directive issued on September 12, the court has also asked the ACB to conduct a probe into the matter and subsequently submit a report before it. The case involved four officers from a private technology provider managing the e-tendering system and 40 other contractors

The civic body carries out ward-level petty work through the e-tendering system, which was introduced in 2012 with the aim of curbing corruption. The work is carried out in two categories, based on the finances to be spent on them – those costing up to Rs3 lakh, and between Rs3 lakh and Rs 20 lakh.

As per a circular issued by the BMC on November 8, 2012, the bids for work costing up to Rs3 lakh were to be accepted for three days. The time period for bid submission for work worth more than Rs3 lakh and up to Rs20 lakh are to be accepted for seven days.

However, a test auditor and vigilance officer's probe into a complaint found that certain engineers attached to different wards had accepted bids for a transit period of only a few minutes to a few hours, allegedly to favour a list of 40 contractors.

After the report was leaked, Vivekanand Gupta, a BJP office-bearer, had approached the ACB seeking a probe into the matter. According to Gupta, his complaints had gone unnoticed.

While speaking to the media on Monday, Gupta said: "The officers concerned are responsible for the mess. Unlike corporators, they have executive powers. But they chose to favour certain contractors. If the court finds them guilty, the officers may face jail time of 10 years."

Despite repeated attempts, Jain remained unavailable for his version.

As reported in dna on September 23, after its initial probe, the BMC had suspended 9 engineers and blacklisted 40 companies in connection with what it says, was a practice of manipulation, rather than a fraud. The corporation, however, had maintained the technology provider concerned was not at fault.

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