MUMBAI: The flight tickets and hotel expenses of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officers who visited Kerala and Delhi to inspect desilting machines were borne by Ketan Kadam, an alleged intermediary arrested in connection with the Mithi River desilting fraud, the sessions court noted on Saturday while rejecting the anticipatory bail plea of co-accused Prashant Tayshete, a deputy chief engineer at the civic body.
According to the detailed order copy, which was made available on Monday, the court said it was unbelievable that a high-ranking civic officer such as Tayshete was not aware of who was bearing the expenses of his official visits and stays in Kerala and Delhi.
“The criminal element of cheating lies here,” observed the court. It added that Tayshete and other BMC officers worked hand-in-glove with Kadam to fix the terms and conditions of the tender for desilting machines so that they would benefit in the future.
Tayshete was among three BMC officers booked by the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in May for alleged irregularities in contracts awarded for desilting the Mithi River. These irregularities led to a loss of ₹65.54 crore for the BMC, the EOW said.
Kadam, the chief executive of Mumbai-based industrial product manufacturer Virgo Specialties, and the company’s director, Jay Joshi, were arrested for their alleged role as intermediaries in the fraud. They were allegedly involved in charging the BMC inflated rates to rent silt pusher machines and dredging equipment supplied by Kochi-based Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd. The BMC’s tender was also tailored in such a way that Matprop gained a monopoly over the contracts, according to the EOW.
According to the Enforcement Directorate, which has launched a parallel money laundering investigation into the alleged fraud, the evidence prima facie indicated that BMC officers, contractors, intermediaries, Matprop executives and others “colluded to form a cartel with the intent to manipulate BMC tenders” related to the desilting of Mithi River.
While applying for anticipatory bail, Tayshete had submitted that as a deputy chief engineer in the BMC’s solid waste management department (SWM), he was never deputed for work related to desilting the Mithi River, which came under the stormwater drains department (SWD). But since he was a mechanical engineer, he was tasked with the inspection of stilt-pushing pontoon machines and multipurpose amphibious pontoon machines when the BMC was looking to award tenders for desilting the Mithi River.
Tayshete also argued that he had no reason to see who was paying for his visits to Kerala and Delhi to inspect desilting machines, since he was told that the expenses would be borne by the BMC. He also claimed that he had signed two reports prepared by BMC officers after the site visits with the specifications of the machines to be specified in the tender, which were rejected by the BMC. He said that he was not a signatory on a third report that was eventually approved.
However, the special sessions NG Shukla, in an order passed on June 21, said that there was no document to show that Tayshete was working in the SWM department and was not concerned with the SWD department. It also said that parts of a report signed by Tayshete were used to demonstrate to higher civic officials why the use of machines with certain specifications was required. “The rates were proposed to be increased on the basis of such specification. Hence, the applicant cannot escape from the liability of raising the said rates,” the judge said.
The court added that even though Tayshete did not sign the third report that was approved, there was no objection regarding the specifications and rates of the machines in the report. “Hence, not having [the] signature of [the] applicant on the third report does not prima facie infer that the applicant had no role in inserting the terms and conditions of [the] use of machines of Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd only, and increasing the rates and thereby causing wrongful loss to the BMC,” observed the court.
Meanwhile, the sessions court on Monday granted Matprop directors Dipak Mohan and Kishore Menon interim protection from arrest. They were among the 13 people booked in the case. It isn’t clear why the court did so, as the detailed order copy is yet to be made available.
Mohan and Menon’s counsel, advocate Paavani Chadha, argued that they were falsely implicated in the case. Their plea said that Matprop had followed due procedures in approaching the relevant officials and carrying out transactions with them.
They also argued that they have a proven track record of successfully supplying and maintaining machinery for water restoration projects, adding that an arrest would cause them severe reputational damage and harassment. The duo submitted that they are willing to fully co-operate with the investigation.