CBI examining ‘key files’ seized from secretariat to nail Kumar

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is scrutinising a few ‘key files’ it had seized from Delhi Secretariat to verify if Rajendra Kumar, principal secretary to the Delhi CM, allegedly used his official position to favour a private firm in award of contracts.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is scrutinising a few ‘key files’ it had seized from Delhi Secretariat to verify if Rajendra Kumar, principal secretary to the Delhi CM, allegedly used his official position to favour a private firm in award of contracts.

The files were seized from the department of services, whose additional charge was with Kumar, a senior IAS officer.

“The files pertaining to the department of services were from 2015, the only ones that did not pertain to the period of 2007-14, during which five contracts were allegedly irregularly given to the accused private firm, Endeavour Systems Private Limited, as per the CBI FIR,” said a CBI source.

“These files were picked up on suspicion that Kumar may have used his position, having the additional charge of the services department, apart from his core responsibilities as a principal secretary, to influence the PSU Intelligent Communication System India into giving contracts to the private firm,” the official said.

The files seized by the CBI will be mentioned in a search cum seizure memo to be submitted to the trial court.

“Most of the contracts under the scanner given in an irregular manner to the firm were via the PSU, the probe has shown,” the source said.

The services department is entrusted with the responsibility of dealing with the service matters of officers of the state. In September this year, the department empanelled ICSIL as the provider of all types of contractual manpower to Delhi government departments, state PSUs and local bodies.

The agency suspects that Kumar had close association with the private firm’s management. “In three of the five irregularly awarded contracts that went to the accused firm, no tenders were floated, instead the contracts went by nomination which was in violation of rules,” said another CBI source.

The case FIR was registered on Monday by the CBI, accusing Kumar of abusing his official position and favouring the private firm, Endeavour, in getting five contracts worth `9.5 crore from 2007 to 2014 in violation of rules. Levelling charges of criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct by public servant, the FIR named Kumar and six others, including the firm ESPL, its two directors, and three former and serving officials of the PSU ICSIL. ICSIL itself was not named as an accused in the FIR.

The CBI on Thursday continued questioning of Kumar regarding details connected to the five allegedly irregular contracts under its scanner. Apart from Kumar, the CBI also questioned another accused named in the FIR, ICSIL’s managing director RS Kaushik. “The accused are revealing good details about the contracts under the scanner, the questioning will happen tomorrow as well,” said a CBI official. The two accused’ versions were also compared for correctness during the questioning sessions, an official said.