AHMEDABAD: A massive scam seems to be berthing at Kandla, one of the biggest central government-run ports. And, it is none other than the port’s own corruption watchdog, the
chief vigilance officer
, who is facing the heat.
A court in Gandhidham on May 30 directed the local
anti-corruption bureau
(ACB) to lodge an FIR under sections of the
Prevention of Corruption Act
and Sections 420 (cheating) and forgery into the allegations of Rs 1,000 crore corruption in
dredging contracts
against the CVO,
P Ramjee
.
The court passed the order following a petition by
Sanjay Bhaty
, who works as a trade promotion and public relation officer at the
Kandla Port Trust
(KPT), seeking investigation against Ramjee and other officials for allegedly favouring a private company that is engaged in dredging at Kandla. It is alleged that hefty bills of the firm were passed even as they did not carry out adequate dredging that ultimately resulted in the ships getting grounded frequently.
Ramjee refused to comment on the matter as it was sub judice. However, he claimed that there was no negative remark in his 17 years of police service.
“Following my complaints in October 2011, the CVC had also initiated a probe into these allegations and their preliminary inquiry had suggested that the dredging scam could touch Rs 1,000 crore,” Bhaty told the court of additional chief judicial magistrate, Gandhidham.
Ramjee took over as CVO at Kandla Port Trust on January 16, 2012. The CVC then handed over the case to Ramjee in November 2012. The official is accused of downsizing the recoveries from the firm to Rs 100 crore while he handled the case.
Dredging is the process of deepening water channels by removing silt and mud to maintain the depth in order to allow bigger ships to berth at the port and ensure that the vessels are not grounded.
KPT’s in-charge chairman Ravi Parmar told TOI: “I have not seen the court order. But strict action will be taken against whoever is found guilty (of corruption).”
It must be mentioned that in 2007, then CVO Manoranjan Kumar had exposed a massive land scam in 2007 wherein nearly 12,000 acres of government land had been given on nomination basis to two or three families without due diligence and without competitive bidding that resulted in a massive loss to the government exchequer.