The chargesheet, accessed by The Indian Express, says the tender criteria were tweaked to award the contract. (Representational Image)
THE MAHARASHTRA Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) Monday filed a 3,000-page chargesheet before a special court in Thane in the Kondhane dam scam case against six former bureaucrats and a partner of FA Enterprises.
Those named in the chargesheet are Devendra Shrike, the then executive director, Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation (KIDC), Balasaheb Patil , the then chief engineer, water resources department, Konkan division, Prahlad Sonanwane, the then chief engineer, Water Resource Department, Konkan division, Ramchandra Shinde, the then Superintending Engineer, KIDC, Anand Kalukhe, the then Executive engineer, Raigad Irrigation Department, Kolad, Rajesh Rithe, the then acting executive engineer, Raigad Irrigation Department, Kolad, Nasar Khatri, partner, FA Enterprises.
While former Water Resources Minister Sunil Tatkare has not been named as an accused, the chargesheet states that the project was awarded after he signed the proposal and that he was aware of norms concerning threshold capacity of the dams. The chargesheet, accessed by The Indian Express, says the tender criteria were tweaked to award the contract. It reads, “In August, 2011, R D Shinde, the then Superintendent Engineer with Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation recommended the contract to be awarded to FA Enterprises. This proposal then landed at the table at D P Shirke, the then executive director, KIDC who wrote “Sh” on the file.”
ACB alleges “Sh” was a code used to convey that “the particular file should be processed as it is beneficial”. This file was then forwarded to Balasaheb Patil, then Chief engineer with water resources department, Konkan Division, who remarked, “The order has to be cleared”. The file was forwarded to Tatkare who signed it, says the chargesheet.
Tatkare refused to comment.
