The Maharashtra Anti Corruption Bureau on Monday registered an FIR against former public works department (PWD) minister Chhagan Bhujbal and five others in connection with the alleged misconduct involving the construction of a central library in Kalina. Officials said that in 1986, the Mumbai University had given part of its campus land in Kalina to the state government, on condition that a central library would be constructed on part of the land. The contract for the construction of the library was subsequently awarded to IndiaBulls, and the matter later went to court following allegations of misconduct. "We initiated an open inquiry into the matter on December 18 last year after the Bombay High Court issued instructions to do so. On Monday, we registered an FIR after we found that there had been a misuse of official position in awarding the contract to IndiaBulls, and that the tendering process had not been a fair one. There is also evidence pointing to the fact that the state government was misled by those involved in the tendering process," said an ACB official. Apart from Bhujbal, the five others who have been booked have been identified as Gajanan Sawant, who was sub-divisional engineer, PWD at the time, Harish Patil, who was executive engineer, Anil Kumar Gaikwad, the then superintendent engineer, as well as Sanjay Solanki and M H Shah, who were at the time secretaries with the PWD. An ACB officer said that the offence had been registered under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code.
