BHOPAL: The ongoing saga of the alleged 'e-tendering' scam in Madhya Pradesh took another intriguing turn as the Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CERT-In) submitted an interim report to the Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing (EOW), stating no more evidences can be extracted from the confiscated data, said sources in the agency.
The development comes after the EOW's reminder to CERT-In for a comprehensive report, as the accused had been acquitted by a trial court in November 2022, citing insufficient evidence.
The acquittal not only resulted in the release of the accused but also led to the withdrawal of a money laundering case against one of the implicated companies. The Telangana high court, in a recent verdict, had quashed Enforcement Directorate (ED) proceedings against Max Mantena, a company under scrutiny.
Justice M Laxman, presiding over the matter, criticized the actions taken against Mantena as a potential misuse of the law, emphasizing that suspicion alone cannot form the basis of establishing guilt.
ED's pursuit had stemmed from an FIR filed by the Bhopal EOW, alleging unauthorized access and manipulation of e-tender processes. The ED, pointing to potential misuse of digital signatures and tender manipulation amounting to Rs 80,000 crore since 2016, had launched a money laundering case against Max Mantena, involving MS Raju, the promoter of the Mantena Group.
The court's decision was grounded in the principle that assets can only be considered crime proceeds if directly or indirectly linked to criminal activity. The court deemed that suspicion alone cannot trigger the offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act. The court's order highlighted the requirement for "reasons to believe" to be founded on sufficient material, not mere suspicion, gossip, or rumors. The court noted that ED's claims lacked substantiation, particularly concerning the alleged tampering of e-tenders since 2016, which remained unsupported by evidence.
The court's observations prompted the quashment of the ongoing proceedings, terming them an abuse of process and perpetuation of injustice. The court's ruling effectively nullified the ED's claims against Max Mantena.
The Bhopal EOW had initially sought CERT-In's expertise to identify 'hash values' and obtain IP addresses linked to the systems involved in the breach. These digital fingerprints, known as 'hash values,' change when a file is altered, aiding in breach detection. However, insiders express concerns about the investigation's trajectory, noting the challenges in proving benefits from the alleged breach, especially when accused companies quoted significantly lower amounts than the base value in tenders.
The alleged e-tendering scam investigation, triggered by orders from Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in mid-2019, stemmed from a conflict among senior bureaucrats. The EOW initiated the inquiry based on an interim report by former director of MP State Electronic Development Corporation (MPSEDC), Manish Rastogi, following the cancellation of nine tenders. Despite its complexity and reliance on technical evidence, the e-tendering case is considered the largest ever probed by the agency. Throughout the investigation, CERT-In played a pivotal role in data recovery from the MPSEDC and analysis.
In June 2021, the Supreme Court directed the trial court to conclude the trial within 12 months. The apex court also dismissed a special leave petition (SPL) bail plea filed by an accused who had been in custody for two years.
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