CWG scam: Telecommunications Consultants India Limited's tender under CBI scanner

NEW DELHI: The tender process by which public sector undertaking Telecommunications Consultants India Limited, or TCIL, bagged a contract for supply of cabling systems, voice telephony, office automation and networking equipment for the 2010 Commonwealth Games has come under the Central Bureau of Investigation's lens.

A contract worth Rs 80 crore was awarded to TCIL without a proper tendering process. "Rather than purchasing the equipment directly from companies through DGS&D (Director-General of Supplies and Disposals) rates, the CWG Organising Committee hired the services of TCIL for the supply," a CBI official said.

TCIL, according to the CBI official, was brought in the frame by Games organising committee joint director general (technical) Sandeep Arya. He had been inducted into the panel after Sujit Panigrahi, who was officiating as the additional director-general (technology), quit in protest against the manner in which the Timing Scoring Result (TSR) deal was pushed through. CBI is examining the role of AK Jolly, who superannuated from TCIL as group general manager (switching and telecom consultancy). He has been questioned once and is likely to be questioned again. "We suspect he may have pocketed a large amount as kickbacks,'' the CBI said.

Jolly, according to the CBI official was close to former OC director-general, VK Verma, at present in judicial custody, and has already been chargesheeted in the TSR scam. "It is believed that Jolly used his proximity with Verma to swing the deal in favour of TCIL, without going through a proper bidding process," the official said.

The tender for supplying the equipment was floated by the organizing committee on October 1, 2009, and the contract was signed on October 22. The tenders were scheduled to be opened on November 4, 2009. It was ratified only in December, 2009, by the OC executive board. TCIL, the official said, was the same agency which had submitted not just an incomplete, but also a very misleading, opinion on the TSR contract row. TCIL's role has also been commented upon in great length by the Shunglu panel report on the irregularities in organising the Games.