Questioning of Lalit Bhanot, the secretary general of the OC of the CWG, continued for the second consecutive day by the CBI on Friday.
The CBI has booked Mr Bhanot and director-general of the OC, V.K. Verma, in connection with alleged irregularities in awarding a contract to a Swiss company for the Time, Scoring and Result (TSR) system of the Games. The agency had also carried out searches at the residences of Mr Bhanot and Mr Verma on November 30.
According to sources, Mr Bhanot reportedly explained his interrogators about the circumstances under which contract was awarded to the Swiss company and also revealed the name of other OC members who played an important role in awarding of the contract.
Sources further said, “Agency officials also asked questions related to alleged irregularities committed in awarding contracts for overlays worth Rs 700 crores.” The agency is likely to register a case in connection with irregularities related to overlays contracts very soon, they added. “Initial probe by the central agencies has revealed that at least in nine contracts, including overlays, standard operation procedure was blatantly violated by the top brass of the OC,” sources added.
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Darbari’s bail plea rejected
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI
Dec. 10: A Delhi court on Friday rejected the bail plea of T.S. Darbari and M. Jayachandran, two former officials of Commonwealth Games organising committee also considered to be close aides of OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi. Both of them are facing prosecution for alleged irregularities in hiring of M/S A.M. Films and Cars for the Queen’s Baton Relay (QBR) in London held in October 2009. The court was not convinced with their plea that the decision for hiring the private firm was taken by a high-powered committee. Also, it noted that the corruption charges in connection with the CWG had “tarnished” the image of the country. A third accused former CWG official, Sanjay Mohindroo, has not yet filed a bail plea. The court remanded all the three accused to judicial custody December 24.
Special Judge A.S. Yadav, while rejecting the bail plea of the two accused, noted that forged documents were used for hiring of the private firm concerned.