Gurugram: MCG seeks action against 7 officials for paying contractor twice

Municipal Corporation of Gurugram commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja has written to the directorate of urban local bodies, seeking permission to register a police case against seven officials of the civic body for allegedly paying a contractor twice for the same work

Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja has written to the directorate of urban local bodies (ULB), seeking permission to register a police case against seven officials of the civic body for allegedly paying a contractor twice for the same work.

The MCG commissioner has also sought permission for a similar action against the contractor who was hired for laying a sewerage line, constructing manholes, and reconstructing roads in Sheetla Mata Road and Palam Vihar areas in November 2018. (HT Archive)

Ahuja has also sought permission for a similar action against the contractor who was hired for laying a sewerage line, constructing manholes, and reconstructing roads in Sheetla Mata Road and Palam Vihar areas in November 2018. After the project was completed in February 2019, ₹47 lakh was paid to the contractor. In November 2019, however, another payment of ₹44 lakh was allegedly made to the contractor by the MCG for the same project, he said.

“The seven officials failed to discharge their duties diligently and the transaction inflicted a financial loss to the MCG and gave financial gain to a third party. This is a gross violation of Haryana Civil Services (Employees Conduct Rules), 2016. The seven MCG officials and contractor in connivance of malafide intention have committed a criminal conspiracy,” said Ahuja.

The matter first came to the fore in July this year, when the contractor “apprised” the MCG of being paid twice for the same project and returned ₹44 lakh to the civic body. Around the time, a special audit of all financial transactions in the MCG was being carried out by a team of the Principal Accountant General (Audit) Haryana.

The matter prompted a vigilance wing inquiry, and in September the civic body issued a show-cause notice to the officials concerned and the contractor, seeking an explanation on the matter. In the vigilance wing inquiry, seven MCG officials — an executive engineer, two accountants, an assistant engineer, one former junior engineer, a former chief account officer, and a former section officer — were allegedly found guilty of making an illegal and fraudulent payment to the private contractor.

Following the submission of the vigilance wing report, on November 3, Ahuja wrote to directorate of ULB for allowing the MCG to register an FIR against the seven officials.

Ahuja said that besides disciplinary action, the matter needs proper police investigation following the registering of an FIR and hence, has sought permission from the ULB.

SK Sharma, a local activist, had filed a right to information (RTI) application on the matter and made its reply public on Wednesday.