NEW DELHI: Charging that in the matter of appointment of consultants for the process of privatisation of the power sector in Delhi three years ago all the guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) were flouted, the Public Accounts Committee of the Delhi Assembly has recommended that the Government refer this matter to the CVC for a thorough probe to determine the complicity and motive on part of the officials involved in the exercise of appointment of the private consultant -- SBI Caps -- that seems to have been done in "decent haste'' flouting the law.

The PAC report talks of complicity, negligence and deliberate connivance in the controversial power privatisation process in the Capital right from the word go.

Under-valuation of assets

It also speaks of a "big scam'' in under-valuation of the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board assets and has urged the Government to approach the CVC for a thorough probe into the conduct of all top officials of the DVB who not only mismanaged this prime service agency but also rendered it into a miserable organisation over a couple of years.

"It was observed during audit that no discernible procedure or method was followed for selection of consultants. There was no effort to invite competitive bids from the open market nor was there any attempt to first assess and define the scope of work to be assigned to the consultants which would have enabled a systematic and transparent comparison of the offers received.''

The PAC has stated that the Delhi Government's Power Department failed to do the necessary groundwork before appointing the consultants. The Department erred on two counts. First, the prescribed procedure for appointment of consultants was not followed and secondly the terms of reference on which the consultant was to submit a report were not finalised.

"The Department should have first decided the terms of reference on which the consultants were to act upon. Open tenders should have been floated and the terms of reference should have been made available to each bidder to ensure a level playing field. Howsoever impressive the performance of SBI Caps may have been, the Government procedure on financial matters does not permit any department to ``pro-actively'' contact a single company for its services, In the absence of uniform terms of reference the bids of the three companies SBI Caps, ICICI and ASCI could not be compared,'' it has concluded.

The report says the Department failed to adhere to the prescribed financial procedures as well as the guidelines of the CVC while appointing SBI Caps as the consultant.

"The matter may be referred to the CVC for a thorough probe."

Assets register incomplete

The Department's admission that the Delhi Vidyut Board's fixed asset register was not complete indicates a very serious lapse on the party of the officers manning erstwhile DVB. It is surprising that the Department has not found it fit to seek the reasons for this lapse.

Instead it chose to gloss over it and opted for the easiest way out. The statement that the Department had no idea of its own assets is a grave admission of its inexcusable act. No government property, whether fixed or movable, can be left unaccounted.

Valuation methodology

The PAC is of the opinion that in the absence of a complete Fixed Asset Register the Department had no option but to opt for the business valuation methodology for the valuation of assets.

"The PAC recommends enquiry by the CVC into the conduct of all top officials who managed DVB in the last three years prior to privatisation for their acts of criminal breach of trust, dereliction of duty, negligence and lack of supervision on their part.''

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