Pankaja Munde faces Rs 206 crore corruption charge over awarding contracts without inviting tenders

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Sawant said, “Not only were the contracts not tendered, but there are also questions over the eligibility of the firms to whom the contracts were awarded. Many of these proposals came on February 12 and within 24 hours all of them were sanctioned. This is a clear case of nepotism. The government should ask the minister to step down till the inquiry is complete.”

According to the state government’s norms, all contracts over Rs 3 lakh have to be electronically tendered. “All works for which rate contracts are available above Rs 1 crore also need to be e-tendered to determine the best possible rates,” Sawant added.

Pankaja, who is on a holiday abroad, said she did no wrong but was ready to face any probe. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too defended her, saying there seemed to be no wrongdoing on her part.

Sawant, however, said documents accessed by his party showed that the WCD department issued government resolutions for the award of 24 contracts to 15 companies on a single day — February 13. These government resolutions were not even uploaded on the government’s website, he alleged, adding that a scrutiny of the purchase proposals showed the contracts were sanctioned purely on the basis of the proposals given by the contractors without there being a record of any demand raised for the products in the said quantities.

He said besides the financial irregularities there had also been complaints about the quality of the products procured, especially chikkis.
Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has sought a high-level probe into the matter.

Praveen Dixit, Director General of Police, ACB, said, “We have sought remarks from the principal secretary of the department before we proceed.”

Defending his minister, the chief minister said, “Pankaja Munde called me from abroad and explained in details the decisions she had taken were in accordance to the existing norms of awarding the contracts. Prima facie there appears no wrongdoing….”

Meanwhile, the WCD department said in a statement the procurements had been made as per the rate contracts approved by the state industries department and the Union government’s Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals.