Did Rodrigues’s letter scuttle CBI probe into sports equipment scam?

The alleged scam pertains to the purchase of fitness equipment by the Administration in 2007. A complaint was made to the CBI by social activist Hemant Goswami and a few others,alleging that the Sports department purchased fitness equipment at exorbitant rates and without following the requisite norms.

Total purchases of over Rs 2 crore were made,which included treadmills (around Rs 10 lakh each) and exercising bikes (around Rs 3.5 lakh each),among others.

In 2008,CBI registered a complaint. Later,the CBI and the UT Vigilance department conducted joint raids in the offices of the Sports department and seized some records.

On June 3,2008,DIG B L Soni of the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch recommended registration of a case against the officials — J P S Sidhu,Joint Director (Sports),I S Sandhu (PCS),the then Director (Sports) and S K Sandhu (IAS),the then Finance-cum-Sports Secretary.

“The (three) officers of the UT Administration have abused their official position and favoured purchase of sports equipment at highly inflated rates from (an) Italian company out of the money of the public exchequer,to the tune of Rs 2 crore without any justification. Hence,I recommend a regular case against the three officers and others. The competence lies with the Director,CBI,as S K Sandhu is an officer of the status of Joint Secretary,Government of India,” DIG B L Soni had written.

As the process of registration of case against the concerned officials was on,General Rodrigues intervened.

Defending his officers’ stand,he wrote a letter to the then CBI Director Vijay Shankar,dated June 20,2008.

The letter reads: “My dear Vijay,I would like to apprise you on a case of procurement of ‘Techno-Gym’ equipment by the Sports department,Chandigarh Administration,which your agency is looking into. It was a conscious decision of the Administration to procure hi-tech Olympic standard equipment,in pursuance of our endeavour to establish world-class infrastructure in the city,so as to promote the city as an international hub… All purchases were approved by competent authority — Advisor to the Administrator,keeping in view the quality of the product… In the light of the above,I would request you to have the case examined fairly and on merit.”

Subsequently,Rodrigues’s letter was circulated to the CBI officials investigating the case.

While Verification Officer of the case Inspector M K Puri and DIG B L Soni were firm that a criminal case be registered against the officials,senior officials,including the Superintendent of Police (CBI) Mahesh Aggarwal and the then Joint Director (North) A K Pateria,were of the view that the agency should send a ‘Self-Contained Note’ to the Administration,leaving it to the Administration to take suitable action.

During the exchange of official communiqués (copies are in possession of Newsline),CBI officials repeatedly referred to Rodrigues’s letter.

Eventually,on November 24,2008,the CBI sent a ‘Self-Contained Note’ to the Administration,asking it to take ‘action as deemed fit’ against the officials involved in the alleged scam.

Expressing surprise over functioning of the CBI,Goswami said,“It’s very unfortunate that information from the CBI can leak like this,and that the CBI can also be influenced by just a personal word from the Governor,whose Administration’s role is already under scanner.”

Action taken following the ‘Self-Contained Note’

When asked about the action taken following the ‘Self-Contained Note’,a senior UT official said,“The CBI asked us to take action as we deemed fit,which we initiated after the UT Administrator’s approval. The Administration has already issued show-cause notices to J P S Sidhu and I S Sandhu (and) no role of S K Sandhu could be ascertained.

I S Sandhu,the then Director (Sports),meanwhile,said there was no irregularity in the purchases. “Everything was done as per the rules. There were certain clarifications on the issue,which the UT Administration sought from me. I have submitted a reply long ago. There was no irregularity committed in any purchases at any point.”

Letter contradicts CBI probe

While Rodrigues’s letter specifically mentions that approval of the Advisor to the Administrator was duly taken before making any purchases,the CBI probe mentions that the Advisor’s approval was taken only in one purchase,not in three others.

The file,in which,according to the UT officials,the Advisor’s approval was taken,has gone missing ever since the probe began.