BHOPAL: In a key development in the probe into the alleged Rs 800 crore advance payment ‘scam’, the then engineer-in-chief of water works department (WRD), Rajeev Kumar Suklikar, has reportedly denied any wrongdoing on his part while emphasising that everything was done as per an enduring “system”.
In his statement to the Madhya Pradesh economic offences wing (EOW), he maintained that advance payments were made as per an ‘protocol’ followed in every project executed by the department for several years and this could be verified by summoning his predecessors and recording their statements as well, sources say.
The former chief engineer told investigators that payments had been done the same way for years to “save the government from incurring additional financial burden due to inflation”.
Suklikar was interviewed by EOW over three days. Investigators refused to comment, saying it was an ongoing probe, but sources in WRD believe Suklikar’s statement may take the case to the next level.
EOW is trying to gather more evidence in the case and is likely to summon the secretary of a very senior bureaucrat, who has since retired, say sources.
“In case the EOW probe goes deeper into the so-called ‘system’, more skeletons will tumble out of the closet. Investigators should go beyond these seven tenders (under probe), and set up an SIT so that the payment mode of every tender floated in the last 15 years can be examined,” said an IAS officer.
It's alleged that ‘cuts’ from these advance payments were diverted to some influential politicians and bureaucrats.
The state government had handed this case to EOW to ascertain if advance payments were made to contractors by changing the payment schedule without government’s approval.
A departmental inquiry by WRD – after BJP returned to power – found that some senior officers, who are under investigation now, had changed the conditions of the tenders without the government’s permission and on ‘verbal’ directives of a very senior IAS officer.
EOW registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) against four WRD officers to investigate ‘unauthorised advance payments’ of Rs 877 crore to seven private companies who were awarded tenders worth Rs 3,333 crore for construction of a pressurised pipe canal system. The general administration department (GAD) has given its nod to EOW to investigate the role of some engineers.
As per an official WRD release, these seven tenders were approved by the department for construction of dam and pressurised pipe canal system on turnkey basis of seven irrigation projects between August 2018 and February 2019.
Scope of work of acceptance tenders was mainly to construct the dam and lift the water from the reservoir to supply water for irrigation at fixed pressure by setting pump house, pressurized pipe line along with control equipment in the designed area. It was Rewa chief engineer, Ganga Kahar, who alerted the government that the condition mentioned in the payment schedule was relaxed by a ‘government order MP GG / 04 / 2019-20, dated May 27, 2019’, for the Gond mega project, say sources. As per the release, no such order had been issued by the government.
