Sunday, Nov 07, 2004
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 6. The Vigilance & Anti Corruption Bureau has filed a case in the Special Court here against two PWD Chief Engineers, one of them retired, accusing them of causing huge losses to the Government in the award of illegal contracts for installing and operating retro-reflective sign-boards on the highways in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. The accused are P.C. Appukkuttan, former Chief Engineer, National Highway; Joseph Mathew, at present Chief Engineer, Roads & Bridges, Thiruvananthapuram; and Hazeeb Rahman, managing director of Kochi-based Padiyath Dairy Products. The first information report (FIR), filed by the Dy.S.P., V. Sreekantan Nair, said the two officials entered into agreements with the private firm in violation of the guidelines of the Union Ministry of Surface Transport and without the approval of the Government. Mr. Appukkuttan entered into an agreement with Mr. Rahman on October 12, 1998, permitting him to set up signboards at 15 centres without inviting tenders or asking him to quote the rate, the FIR said. Mr. Mathew entered into another agreement with the entrepreneur on March 15, 1999, again violating policy guidelines, and permitted him to install signboards in 76 more centres. Mr. Mathew has no jurisdiction over national highways. Without obtaining the approval of the Government, he amended the terms and conditions of the original agreement and extended the period of erection of the boards from two to five years, while the licence period was extended to 30 years. Mr. Rahman collected a total of Rs.15.17 lakhs by way of rent from several advertisers. If the guidelines were followed, huge amounts of money would flow to the Government, the FIR said. The licencee can collect rent for the advertisements on the space provided on the signboards for a maximum of five years. After this period, the right to lease out the space on the board vests with the Government. The case was registered on the basis of a complaint given by the People's Union of Civil Liberties to the Chief Minister.
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