The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee on Monday terminated the services of its tainted Joint Director General T S Darbari after a corruption scandal rocked this prestigious event. Darbari had already been suspended last week and has now been told to hand charge to Additional Director General (PSUs,Marketing and Sponsorship ) V K Saxena. The Enforcement Directorate also asked T S Darbari to appear before it on Monday afternoon to probe further the alleged financial irregularities for services provided at the Queen's Baton Relay ceremony in London last year. It is alleged a British firm was paid an unreasonable amount for a variety of services,though a contract or any other form of written agreement was reportedly missing. Darbari was in charge of overseeing the London preparations. A close aide of OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi,Darbari was asked to explain these financial transactions by the Enforcement Directorate. He was also asked to bring all documents related to money transactions and grant of contracts to different agencies in London. As reported by The Indian Express in early February,Darbari surfaced on the radar of the Kerala customs department when carrier Kochan Dharman Mani was arrested with a diamond ring allegedly bought by Darbari in Dubai. The value of the ring was assessed to be Rs 28 lakh. Darbari had defended himself,saying: I am just a third party and have no connection with the customs recovery. What can I do if someone names me as the buyer after he is arrested and my name is found on an invoice? Then came the financial irregularities during the Queen's Baton Relay. Sources said the British authorities referred to the Indian High Commission a transaction with A M Films,a little-known London-based company,to which a huge sum of money was transferred through the Royal Bank of Scotland. The authorities in London have already begun a probe into the firm and had contacted the Indian High Commission which then forwarded the details to the Sports Ministry here for action. The ministry then asked Kalmadi on August 1 to immediately relieve Darbari of all duties. Darbari headed the OC's Revenue and Marketing units,and Mohindroo was in charge of its Marketing and Technology sections. The Organising Committee suspended Darbari and Joint Director General (Accounts and Finance) M Jaychandran on August 5 for their alleged links to the Queen's Baton Relay irregularities. Deputy Director General Sanjay Mohindroo was also suspended but the Games panel said he quit his post several months ago. After their suspensions,pressure mounted on the Suresh Kalmadi-led Games organising committee for stricter action. The Sports Ministry,which has these past few months demanded written explanations from the OC for every complaint of mismanagement or alleged corruption,said last week that the damage control exercise of suspending these officers was not adequate punishment. The Sports Ministry's last letter to the organising committee had stated: The staging of the Commonwealth Games involves intense activity over the next two months. In the light of this position,placing the two officials in question under suspension is not adequate .On the contrary,this Ministry emphatically advises that T S Darbari and Sanjay Mohindroo be relieved of all duties in the Organising Committee and should not be further associated in any manner with the Games. The Sports Ministry has also demanded from the Organising Committee a full audit of the expenses incurred abroad. It had also referred the matter to the Enforcement Directorate for scrutiny. The ministry has also requested Revenue Secretary Sunil Mitra to hasten the probes against Darbari and Mohidroo.
