The CBI on Thursday arrested an executive director (ED) of Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) and five officials of Tata Projects Ltd, Noida, including an executive vice president and an assistant VP, in connection with alleged bribery to favour the private firm in contracts and other works, including preparation of inflated bills.
The agency arrested the accused — PGCIL’s BS Jha, and Tata Projects’ executive vice president and head (Transmission and Distribution), Desh Raj Pathak, assistant VP and business head-distribution, RN Singh and its three other officials — after conducting searches at 11 locations on Wednesday which continued till Thursday, officials said.
Post-searches, the CBI recovered `93 lakh from the premises of Jha in Gurugram, they said. The searches were conducted at 11 premises of the accused persons located in Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad which led to recovery of numerous incriminating documents, materials and digital devices among others.
The CBI had received source information about the alleged bribery in electricity projects following which Jha, who was posted in Itanagar, was put under surveillance. During the surveillance, it surfaced that Jha was allegedly receiving bribes from the executives of Tata Projects for granting favours, the officials said. The CBI action followed the registration of an FIR against Jha, Pathak and Singh.
The CBI has also named the company Tata Projects Ltd, Noida and its three other officials — Nafeej Hussain Khan, Randheer Kumar Singh and Sandeep Kumar Dubey — as accused in the FIR.
“It was alleged that the public servant (Jha) in conspiracy with others was involved in extending favours to the said company (Tata Projects) for various work viz, preparation of inflated bills, early clearing of bills, price variation clause, etc, related to contracts of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited in lieu of demand and acceptance of illegal gratification,” the CBI said in a statement.
It was further alleged that Tata Projects Ltd, Noida, has bagged tenders, pertaining to a comprehensive scheme for Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.
According to the information, which became the basis for the FIR, Tata Projects was given the contracts under World Bank-funded North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project, a comprehensive scheme for improving power infrastructure of the region, officials said.
“We adhere to strong norms in all our business transactions and have zero tolerance to any compromise on the same. We would extend our complete support to the relevant authorities,” a spokesperson of Tata Projects claimed in a statement.
Officials in the Power Grid Corporation claimed that Jha was posted as Executive Director in the Comprehensive T and D Scheme of Arunachal Pradesh.
The role of Desh Raj Pathak, Executive Vice President and SBU Head (Transmission & Distribution) India, SAARC and SEA at Tata Projects Limited; and R N Singh, AVP Business Head--Distribution came to the fore while the CBI was keeping an eye on Jha’s activities.
All the six arrested accused were produced before Panchkula court on Thursday which sent them to CBI custody till July 15, the CBI added.