Quite disappointing
Two senior GAIL officials among five arrested in ‘Rs 50 lakh bribery case’
Five persons, including an executive director (projects) and chief general manager of Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL), have been arrested by the CBI in connection with an alleged Rs 50 lakh bribery case in which money “changed hands to favour some contractors in gas pipeline projects”.
“The arrested persons have been identified as Krishna Ballabh Singh, an executive director (projects), and Davinder Singh, CGM, both working with GAIL, Surendra Kumar, director of M/s Advance Infrastructures Pvt Ltd company, Harsh Yadav and Suryavesh. The arrested accused will be produced before the court concerned,” said a CBI spokesperson.
The agency registered the case on September 4 on the basis of source-based information and an FIR alleging criminal conspiracy and under Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against six persons, including Sunil Kumar, senior general manager of MECON Limited, who has not been arrested, Vadodara-based M/s Advance Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd company and unidentified public servants.
“A case was registered on the allegations that K B Singh, in conspiracy with others, was extending undue favours in connection with SAPL (Srikakulam Angul Pipeline) and VAPL (Vijaipur Auraiya Pipeline) projects of GAIL. It was further alleged that Director Surendra Kumar had arranged the bribe amount of Rs 50 lakh through two private persons. It was also alleged that the bribe of Rs 50 lakh would be delivered to him by the private person,” the spokesperson said.
“A trap was laid by the CBI and after delivery of the bribe by the private person, both were apprehended. The Rs 50 lakh bribe money was recovered from Singh. Searches were conducted at the premises of the accused in Delhi, Noida, Visakhapatnam and Vadodara, which led to recovery of incriminating documents and digital evidence,” the spokesperson said.
“Information has been received that two projects — VAPL and SAPL — are being supervised by Singh and source also informed that he in connivance with other officials of GAIL in lieu for undue advantage/bribe, is extending various undue favours to the company director, Surendra. The undue favours extended by him included expeditious processing of pending payments/ bills in violation of rules and procedures, overlooking the default of the companies in meeting the laid down obligations,” the CBI alleged in its FIR.
The FIR stated, “(A) Source has informed that on June 27 Surendra approached Singh and requested him to help in expeditious processing of final bills in connection with the work in VAPL, who in turn assured him help from his side. Surendra met him at his residence in Noida on June 29. Source has informed that despite the insistence from the finance division of GAIL that the bills be processed through VIMS (Vendor Invoice Management System) portal – the online mode – Singh influenced his subordinates and ordered for processing of payment in offline mode.”
#JUSTIN: Five persons,including the Executive Director (Projects) of Gail have been arrested by the CBI for allegedly taking Rs 50 lakh as a bribe on the pretext of giving extra favour to a private company. Searches are going on in Delhi, Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam.@IndianExpress
— Mahender Singh Manral (@mahendermanral) September 5, 2023
“(The) Source has further informed that despite the fact that huge recoveries had to be made from M/s Advance Infrastructures Pvt Ltd for the incomplete works, some litigation, Singh used his influence over subordinates to release the payment on July 20,” the CBI alleged.
“(The) Source has further informed that in SAPL project being executed by the M/s Advance Infrastructures Pvt Ltd. Davinder Singh was supervising the project and Sunil Kumar, senior general manager of MECON Limited, was monitoring the project as a Project Management Consultant (PMC). (The) Source has further informed that Surendra, in connivance with Davinder and Sunil, was getting various undue favours for his company by paying huge bribe money to them,” the FIR stated.
According to the source, “In August 2023, during the execution of pipeline work of the SAPL project, a sweating issue was noticed in some portions of the pipeline. On August 25, Surendra had also contacted Sunil to settle the issue after assuring to give bribe to him and on August 27, K B Singh directed Davinder Singh to get the pipeline of the SAPL project dewatered and retested,” the complaint noted.
“On August 28, Surendra had contacted K B Singh to settle the issue by other means as he conveyed that emptying the entire water was not feasible for his company. He also assured him that he would deliver the payment at the earliest as he had also ensured payment of the bills despite all obstacles. K B Singh in conspiracy with Surender directed Davinder to sort out the issue about testing in SAPL,” the FIR alleged.
Mahender Singh Manral – 2023-09-05 15:40