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By Vinay Kumar
The report, submitted to the Supreme Court today, sees laxity among top State Government officials who allegedly bypassed rules and regulations for sanctioning the project. In the process, interpolations were made on the Government files, according to the 123-page report. It concludes that "gross irregularities, both procedural as well as financial," have been committed. Besides, illegalities which amount to abuse of official position and authority have also been committed, the report charges. The agency examined persons, officers, scrutinised documents collected during enquiry and relied upon the report of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL). Acting under directions of the Supreme Court, the CBI first submitted a preliminary report and followed it up with a final report on September 11. Today, it submitted a report on the assets of Mayawati, her relations and the State Government officials, mainly relying upon their income tax returns filed over the last five years. It noted that Mayawati accorded approval of the Taj Heritage Corridor project in her capacity as Environment Minister which was recorded on the file by her Principal Secretary, P.L. Punia. D.S. Bagga, the then Chief Secretary U.P., did not "exercise due care and caution while appending his initials on the proceedings of the meeting of the Mission Management Board". He also ``failed to take corrective measures'' once he came to know that the work on site had been started.
`Against norms'
Ms. Mayawati had written a demi-official letter to T.R. Baalu, Union Environment Minister, seeking approval of Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) for the newly prioritised projects, including the Taj Corridor, but she accorded her own approval on October 31 last year for commencement of work and release of funds even though the approval of the Union Government was not received. "Against all norms, work was started by the National Project Construction Corporation (NPCC) on the verbal instructions of R.K. Sharma, Secretary, Environment, U.P. for which no Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or agreement was signed between the State Government and the NPCC. Only a copy of the Government Order of November 1, 2002, sanctioning Rs. 17 crores for the project was sent to the NPCC,'' the CBI report said. The entire work of the project was left to the mercy of the NPCC and its sub-contractor Ishvakoo (India) Private Limited and no Government department or authority or agency was made responsible to supervise the ongoing work, to check the material and technical specifications.
`EFC approval not taken'
The swiftness with which Ishvakoo and CAPS approached the NPCC for a tie-up to execute the project immediately after the meeting held at Lucknow on June 29, 2002, and even before the project was formulated and given an in-principle approval by the Mission Management Board in its meeting held at Agra on August 4, 2002, suggests "a prior meeting of minds or collusion between the contractor firms and public servants". No approval of the CCEA was obtained, contrary to the decisions taken jointly by the Centre and the U.P. Government, which was reiterated on more than one occasion in the files of the State Environment Department. Even approval of the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) of the State Government, needed in case of every non-recurring expenditure of Rs. 5 crores and above, was not taken, the report noted. Further, the then State Minister of Environment, Mr. Siddiqui, sanctioned Rs. 20 crores for release without approval of detailed project reports and techno-feasibility reports and without clearance of the EFC of the State Government and the CCEA. "Mr. Siddiqui subsequently tampered with the file and made interpolations in the Government records with an objective to cover up the fact that he had sanctioned Rs. 20 crores on May 21, 2003,'' the report alleged. Mr. Siddiqui and V.K.Gupta, present Secretary, Environment of U.P. Government, pressured Rajendra Prasad, Under Secretary, Environment Department, who also ``tampered with the file and made interpolations to cover the fact'' that the Minister had sanctioned Rs. 20 crores.
`Undue favour'
K.C. Misra, Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, ``tampered with the file and made interpolations in Government records in order to cover up his omissions of not approving the proposals'' of his Joint Secretary and Special Secretary for writing to the State Government for a report and to ask them to carry out work only after necessary approvals and clearances. He ``obscured some positions of the notes of October 21, 2002 and May 8, 2003'' of Dr. Saroj, Additional Director, Ministry of Environment and Forests, so as to ``show that he was not a part of the decision-making and had not shown his consent to the proposed project''. However, the CFSL concluded that interpolations were made in the files by Naseemuddin Siddiqui, Rajendra Prasad, K.C. Misra. The report said the NPCC entered into a pre-tender tie-up with Ishvakoo (India) Private Limited and CAPS without inviting competitive bids from other parties thereby showing ``undue favour'' to them. "These acts on the part of public servants attract the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. In addition, offences of cheating and forgery have also been committed in the process," the CBI concluded. The techno-feasibility report, detailed project reports, drawings and cost estimates were not prepared before the physical commencement of work of the Corridor Project, it said.
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