JAMMU, Apr 21: The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) today conducted simultaneous raids at 14 locations including residences of Principal Secretary Agriculture Development and Farmers Welfare Department Navin Choudhary at Gandhi Nagar in Jammu and Darbanga in Bihar and former officers of Chenab Valley Power Project Private Limited (CVPPPL) after the agency registered two FIRs.
Besides Navin Choudhary, a senior IAS officer, raids were conducted at the residences of M S Babu, M K Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra, all former officers who held top posts in the CVPPPL and proprietors of M/s Patel Engineers Mumbai.
Raids were launched at a total of 14 locations in Jammu, Srinagar, New Delhi, Mumbai, Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Trivandrum in Kerala this morning. Raided places include offices and residences of the accused.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the CBI has registered two FIRs in connection with corruption allegations levelled by former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik in the awarding of contracts for a Group Medical Insurance Scheme for Government employees and civil work worth Rs 2,200 crore related to Kiru hydroelectric power project in the erstwhile State.
The CBI has named Reliance General Insurance and Trinity Re-Insurance Brokers Limited as accused in its FIR related to a controversial Health Insurance Scheme for Jammu and Kashmir Government employees reportedly cleared by Malik in the State Administrative Council meeting on August 31, 2018.
Sources said raids were conducted at Navin Choudhary’s official residence at Gandhi Nagar in Jammu and ancestral home at Darbanga in Bihar. Residence of former Managing Director CVPPPL M S Babu was raided at Trivandrum in Kerala while houses of two former CVPPL Directors including M K Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra were searched at Sarita Vihar in New Delhi and Mumbai respectively.
Houses and offices of Proprietors of Patel Engineering were raided in Mumbai.
Houses and offices of other accused named in the FIR were also searched in Srinagar and Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
Sources said large quantity of incriminating documents and electronic gadgets have been recovered by the CBI teams during multiple raids conducted at different places during the day.
Besides, they said, documents pertaining to investments in properties and number of bank accounts have also been traced.
The raids concluded late this evening, they said.
In its FIR pertaining to the alleged malpractices in the award of contract for civil works package of Kiru hydroelectric power project, the CBI said guidelines related to e-tendering were not followed.
“The case was registered on allegations of malpractices in award of the contract worth Rs 2,200 crore (approximately) of civil works of Kiru Hydro Electric Power Project(HEP) to a private company in the year 2019,” sources said.
The agency has booked Navin Kumar Chaudhary, former Chairman of Chenab Valley Power Projects (P) Ltd, M S Babu, former MD, M K Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra, former Directors and Patel Engineering Ltd in the case.
“Though a decision was taken in 47th Board meeting of CVPPPL for re-tender through e-tendering with reverse auction after cancellation of ongoing tendering process, same was not implemented (as per decision taken in 48th board meeting) and tender was finally awarded to Patel Engineering Ltd,” the FIR alleged.
In the second FIR, the CBI said: “Unknown officials of Finance Department of Government of Jammu and Kashmir by abusing their official position in conspiracy and connivance with Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Ltd, Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd and other unknown public servants and private persons have committed the offences of criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct to cause pecuniary advantage to themselves and caused wrongful loss to state exchequer during the period 2017 and 2018 and thereby in this manner cheated the Government of Jammu and Kashmir”.
It was alleged in different quarters that there were glaring deviations from the Government norms in the contract awarded to Reliance General Insurance like absence of an online tender, removal of an original condition that the vendor should have experience of working in the State and companies having turnover of Rs 5,000 crore among others.
“The case was registered on the request of Jammu and Kashmir Government on the allegations of malpractices in award of contract of J&K Employees Health Care Insurance Scheme to private company and release of Rs 60 crore (approximately) in the year 2017-18,” sources said.
After allegations of irregularities surfaced, the scheme, which was rolled out on September 30, 2018, was scrapped.
“The Governor has approved foreclosure of the contract with M/s Reliance General Insurance Company (RGIC) for implementing Group Mediclaim Health Insurance Policy for the employees and pensioners in the State,” a Raj Bhavan spokesperson had said on October 27, 2018.
He had said the matter was referred to the Anti-Corruption Bureau for examining the entire process to see whether it was conducted in a transparent and fair manner.
In the scheme which was initially signed up with RGIC for one year, the employees and pensioners would have got Rs 6 lakh cover for themselves and five dependent family members by paying an annual premium.
Malik, who was the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir between August 23, 2018 and October 30, 2019 had claimed that he was offered a Rs 300 crore bribe for clearing two files.
“After going to Kashmir, two files came to me (for clearance), one belonging to Ambani and another to an RSS-affiliated man who was a Minister in the previous Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP coalition Government and claimed to be very close to the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), he had said.
“I was informed by Secretaries in both the departments that there is a scandal and I accordingly cancelled both the deals. The Secretaries told me that ‘you will get Rs 150 crore each for clearing the files’ but I told them that I have come with five kurta-pyjamas and will leave with that only,” Malik had told a gathering at an event in Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan in October last year.