New Delhi: Two decades after a Rs 1,600-crore World Bank highway project dissolved into corruption claims and the tragic suicide of a Malaysian project manager, its ghost has returned to haunt India’s top election official. The Kerala government has reopened a Vigilance probe against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The case dates back to his tenure as the state’s Public Works Department (PWD) secretary.
Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala ordered reinvestigation on October 4 after Congress leader Malayinkeezhu Venugopal submitted a complaint. It had a budget of Rs 1,600 crore and was financed through a World Bank loan. It covered the renovation and modernisation of about 1,600 km of major roads under the state PWD. The project was first proposed during the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M)-led government between 1996 and 2001. The project began in December 2002 under the Congress-led government. The land acquisition notification was issued only in 2004. The contractor then sought a 30% increase in the contract value as construction costs rose. The company was given an additional Rs 72 crore on top of the original Rs 216-crore contract.
Because of the delay in acquiring land, by October 2006, PATI-BEL told the government that it could not finish the work within the original deadline.
“I found that there is substance in the complaint after examining it,” the minister said. A legal opinion obtained by the state prosecution department has said that the passage of time does not by itself prevent a further investigation into corruption allegations. It also said an earlier inquiry could be reopened if circumstances justify further investigation.
The revival of this ghost could not come at a worse time for Kumar. The poll watchdog chief is facing Opposition criticism over the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Leaders from Opposition parties, students organistions and civil society groups have led calls for his immediate resignation. The KSTP was planned as a major road modernisation programme. Land for the road work had not been acquired when the contractor was given the project. The finance department, which was then headed by Thomas Isaac in the CPI(M) government, rejected the demand and sought the World Bank permission to re-tender the work. The Kerala government has now sought to investigate why the old probe did not progress. Ultimately, the state chose to hand the contract right back to PATI-BEL. The decision was criticised by the Congress, which was then in Opposition. Then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy asked the government to explain why the PATI-BEL was given the work again while investigations were pending.
