Signature tampering scam in PMGSY
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, March 17 2013 : In a fresh scam involving Rs 204 crores, tampering the signatures of Chief Engineer, SQC, Manipur State Rural Road Development Agency (MSRRDA) on different pages of BOQ documents of the contract work for fifty packages under Phase 8 of Prime Minister Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for renovation of rural roads in five hill districts has surfaced.

Following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by All Manipur PWD Contractors' Association, Imphal, represented by its President L Guni, a division bench of Gauhati High Court, Imphal Bench has restricted issuing of any work order of the contract work mentioned in the related Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) dated 15-10-2012 .

The PIL was filed against State of Manipur represented by its Commissioner/Secretary (RD & PR), Government of Manipur, Chief Engineer, SQC, MSRRDA and Ministry of Rural Development represented by its Secretary, Government of India.

After studying the merit of the PIL, the division bench of the High Court comprising Justice T NK Singh and Justice N Kotiswar Singh issued an order in this connection on March 15 .

Signature tampering scam in PMGSY

The division bench has directed the respondents to produce the original BOQ document as circumstance requires the court to see the original document.

The court also directed Chief Engineer, SQC, MSRRDA to file an affidavit on or before April 16 .

According to the PIL filed by the Association with Advocate M Devananda as petitioner's Counsel, Ministry of Rural Development had sanctioned Rs 204 crore for 50 packages under Phase 8 of PMGSY for renovation of rural roads in five hill districts of the state for the year 2012-13.Consequently, the Chief Engineer, SQC of MSRRDA issued NIT on October 15 last year for the contract works.

Besides, the Bill of Quantity (BOQ) documents had been issued along with a memorandum.

Upon studying the BOQ documents, visible differences were found in the signatures of the Chief Engineer on the first and second pages of the package number 242 for Chandel district.

Similar differences were also detected in around 30 out of the 50 packages, indicating that signatures of the Chief Engineer had been tampered.

The PIL prayed the court to cancel the work order issued in connection with the contract work, to direct handing over the case to an independent investigation body like CBI, to send the signatures to forensic Science Department and Handwriting Experts for necessary verification and to instruct for issuing a new NIT.

In the PIL, President of All Manipur PWD Contractors Association L Guni has also appealed to contractors not to begin renovation works before getting the required work orders.

Sources confirmed that more than 500 bidders have acquired the NIT forms worth Rs 20,000 each and the Department had earned a handsome amount in issuing the NIT forms alone as the fee is non-refundable.

Moreover, bidders were made to deposit 1 percent of the total worth of the project as earnest money.

Even if there are provisions to refund the earnest money after 90 days, the agency has, however, not taken up any steps to refund the amount.