Former J-K chief secretary Ashok Jaitly has been booked by the State Vigilance Organisation (SVO) on charges of corruption in connection with a Rs 200-crore renovation contract awarded to a Jammu-based industrialist. Along with Jaitly, the SVO has also booked six others, including Ravish Trehan, the industrialist. The sleuths searched four premises in New Delhi and Jammu yesterday and seized some documents. A spokesman said the house of Jaitly, however, was not searched. The state’s oldest powerhouse at Ranbir Canal had been constructed by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1908. It continued generating power till the early 80s. The spokesman said Jaitly, at the fag end of his service, entered into ‘‘a criminal conspiracy with Ravish Trehan and some other people’’ to ensure that work on the powerhouse went to the latter. Trehan had quoted a steep figure for power generation. The Vigilance FIR says the former chief secretary ‘‘bulldozed his way and ensured handing over of the powerhouse to Trehan Industries’’. When contacted, Jaitly was not available for comment. The FIR says Jaitly ordered the officials concerned to hand over the project to Trehan without entering into any formal contract, agreement or MoU. The approval of the Board of Directors of the State Power Development Corporation (SPDC) and the State Cabinet were also not sought. The move to handover the powerhouse began in September 2000 when some entrepreneurs approached the SPDC. One of them — M/s Shakti Hydro Electric Company Pvt Ltd of New Delhi — sent an offer which was considered favourably by the SPDC. Around April-May 2001, Jaitly entered into a ‘‘conspiracy with Trehan to obtain the contract’’. He induced a retired assistant general manager, BHEL, and the consultant, Ashok Kumar, who had prepared the technical report for the Delhi company, to quote a slightly lesser cost of production. Trehan offered Rs 3 per unit as the Delhi company had quoted Rs 3.16. In July, Jaitly got a letter issued to the SPDC Managing Director ‘‘to take steps to enter into MoU with Trehan Industries without waiting for the feasibility reports’’. Subsequently, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) of the Union Ministry of Power was requested to review Trehan’s offer. It raised several objections, specially to the price offered. The Law Department, too, objected as the state had not formulated any policy guidelines on the subject.
