New Delhi:
As former Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi cools his heels in jail, fresh evidence has emerged on how he and other senior officials of the Organising Committee (OC) flouted rules to favour certain companies in the bids for the Games.
NDTV has gained access to a video recording of a meeting of the Organising Committee held on October 12, 2009.
In the video, VK Verma, one of Mr Kalmadi's close aides and a former Director General of the OC is heard telling Games delegates about the contract for the Timing Scoring and Results (TSR) systems several weeks before the tenders were finalised. Mr Verma can be clearly heard saying, "The contract for the TSR will be given to the Swiss Timing."
Swiss Timing, the company which won the contract for Rs 141 crores, allegedly paid kickbacks to a local representative of a company who was appointed at Mr Kalmadi's insistence. The Swiss Timing bid was 95 crores more than MSL, a Spainish firm, which had put a competing bid of Rs 48 crores.
Swiss Timing has denied all allegations of wrong doing. In a statement the company said, "CBI has not made any formal charges against the Swiss Timing company."
The statement also says -
- The tender procedure and the bidding procedure have been totally transparent and Swiss Timing has at no time tried to illegally influence the tender and bidding procedure.
- Swiss Timing has entirely fulfilled its contract according to the stipulations and conditions set and agreed on by both parties.
- Before, during and after the Games, the Swiss Timing experts had to work under disastrous, chaotic conditions. Despite this situation, Swiss Timing delivered an impeccable service to the athletes of the Commonwealth Games 2010.(Read full statement)
The video that was shot by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) for their records is being used by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to as a clinching piece of evidence to back their case against Kalmadi and his aides. The CBI reportedly also has testimonies from two former OC officials, alleging that they were pressurised by Mr Kalmadi and Mr Verma to swing the deal in favour of Swiss Timing.
Mr Verma, alongwith Lalit Bhanot, another Kalmadi aide and the former Secretary General of the OC, were arrested by the CBI on February 23 in connection with irregularities in the TSR contract for the Games.
Mr Kalmadi was arrested on April 25, on charges of fraud and cheating for the same contract. He will be produced in court on May 4.