CBI says Kalmadi tarnished country’s image

“Suresh Kalmadi’s conduct has tarnished the image of the country,” was how CBI described him while opposing the bail plea of the former CWG Organising Committee chief arrested on charges of cheating, conspiracy and corruption in the award of games related contracts.“We are opposing the bail plea (of Kalmadi) as other co-accused in this case had already been denied bail by this court. Investigation is going on. Kalmadi’s conduct has tarnished the image of the country,” CBI prosecutor told Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh.

Mr. Kalmadi was arrested along with OC Joint Director General (Sport) A S V Prasad and OC Deputy Director General (Procurement) Surjit Lal on April 25 for allegedly awarding an illegal contract to a Swiss firm for Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) system for the mega sporting event last year causing a loss of over Rs 90 crore to the exchequer.

CBI submitted Mr. Kalmadi constituted a committee of “handpicked persons” to push for a selected brand.“It has come to light during investigation that in furtherance of the criminal conspiracy to cheat the government of India and to push for a selected brand, a committee of handpicked persons was formed by Kalmadi in conspiracy with other accused persons, with no persons having required technological qualification and knowledge.

“In a most superfluous and predetermined manner, without any basis or background, the name of a particular brand was recommended out of the blue for timing and scoring,” CBI said in its reply opposing Mr. Kalmadi’s bail.

CBI said that as part of the conspiracy, the accused persons also manipulated the minutes of the meeting of the OC’s Financial Committee (OCFC).“Manipulation was done in the minutes of the meetings of OCFC which is the committee that deliberated the Request for Proposal (RFP) for TSR. The factual minutes were changed and recorded in a convenient manner that did not actually reflect the true discussion as held during the meetings,” CBI said.

The court reserved its order on the bail plea for May 21.

Courtesy : The Hindu