A scientist and officials of the prestigious Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, have invited CBI probe in an alleged case of corruption with the investigation agency claiming that they along with a supplier of digital display boards caused a “huge wrongful loss” of over Rs 1 crore to the Institute and the Government.
An initial CBI probe has shown that scientist Dr Gufran Beig and other IITM officers diluted the terms and conditions of the tender in conspiracy with Anil Girkar, director of Video Wall India company of Mumbai, resulting in the loss to the institute.
The CBI said in the FIR that Girkar dishonestly imported sub-standard items from China for the 12 outdoor digital display systems (DDS) for a total amount of Rs 54 lakh – at the rate of Rs 4.5 lakh per piece – and supplied them to IITM on exorbitant rates with total cost of Rs 1.76 crore – at the rate of Rs 14.70 lakh per piece.
The tender in 2015-16 was awarded to Girkar by the institute for DDS meant for System for Air Quality and Weather Forecasting & Research for Ahmedabad (SAFAR-Ahmedabad) including supply, fixing and installation of 12 ‘Outdoor true colour LED display boards, 4 indoor LED display and operation and maintenance contract for 5 years to Video Wall India’.
The CBI said in its FIR, “The suspect officials of the IITM, knowing well that the items supplied and installed by the company were not meeting the specifications as per the tender, dishonestly and fraudulently released payments to them, without carrying out inspections of the items through technical experts.”
The probe agency also said that the company made a misrepresentation that it was an original equipment manufacturer of digital display boards.
In reality, Girkar’s company imported the LED panels and other electronic parts from China and assembled the same for supply to IITM, which were not as per the specifications given in the supply order.
The probe agency’s charges against Girkar are also likely to get more severe as an initial investigation has revealed that in his bid to avoid payments of applicable customs duty while importing Chinese LED panels, he fraudulently mis-declared the LED panels and other electronic parts.