India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a First Information Report (FIR) on Wednesday against former officials of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE) and two dredging companies for alleged irregularities amounting to over ₹800 crore in the Capital Dredging Project meant to deepen ship navigational channels near Mumbai.
Officials said the CBI also conducted searches at five locations in Mumbai and Chennai, including the residence of former chief engineer of JNPT, Sunil Kumar Madabhavi, and offices of private companies that led to the recovery of a number of documents relating to the project, digital devices, and documents showing investments made by public servants, said a CBI official.
The agency had undertaken a three-year-long preliminary inquiry to look into the allegations of inflated estimates, extension of undue favours to contractors, throttling of competition to favour international bidders, and suppression of reports of independent expert organisations.
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Besides booking former JNPT chief engineer Madabhavi, the CBI FIR also names then project director of TCE, Devdutt Bose, Boskalis Smit India LLP, Jan De Nul Dredging India Pvt Ltd and other unidentified public servants under IPC Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The documents recovered are being examined, the official said.
“The allegations of pecuniary advantage obtained by the private companies as a result of abuse of official position by the JNPT officials resulting into a huge wrongful loss to the exchequer, spread over the period from 2003 to 2014 (phase-I of the project) and 2013 to 2019 (phase-II of the project) was also inquired,” the CBI said in its FIR.
The inquiry showed a criminal conspiracy between JNPT officials and other private persons, including an official of Tata Consulting Engineers, and others, which resulted in wrongful loss amounting to ₹365.90 crore for phase-I and ₹438 crore for phase-II to JNPT due to over-dredging.
The accused companies have not issued any statement so far.
The Capital Dredging project was envisaged by the JNPT to deepen and widen the navigational channel it shared with the Mumbai Port in 2003 to cater to the needs of larger-sized cargo ships.
TCE was roped in for preparation of a final report on the planning for dredging activities for the Capital Dredging Phase-I project, which was submitted in 2010 in association with Dredging Solution. TCE was also awarded the work of project management consultant, and tasked with the preparation of the tender documents and supervision of the execution of the project, the FIR alleged.
The CBI found that JNPT officials, along with TCE executives, kept tender conditions to favour foreign bidders and violated the guidelines of Competition Commission of India by allowing complimentary bidding. They also allowed the formation of the joint venture by solely eligible bidders Boskalis Smit India LLP with Jan De Nul Dredging India Pvt Ltd (also known as BSI-JDN JV).
The inquiry also showed violation of a number of guidelines related to fixation of rates for dredging different type of rocks, delays in the project, a false claim of ₹348 crore by the contractor without actual performance of work, excess payment of ₹430 crore, and manipulation of the pre-dredge survey by using a less accurate software, ‘Qinsy’, among others.
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