Court rejects bail plea of civic contractor Romin Chheda

MUMBAI: A Mumbai metropolitan magistrate’s court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of civic contractor Romin Chheda, who was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police in a case related to alleged irregularities in the setting up of oxygen-generation plants at nine civic hospitals and two Jumbo Covid centres during the COVID-19 pandemic

MUMBAI: A Mumbai metropolitan magistrate’s court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of civic contractor Romin Chheda, who was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police in a case related to alleged irregularities in the setting up of oxygen-generation plants at nine civic hospitals and two Jumbo Covid centres during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Chheda’s counsel argued in court that despite his cooperation, the agency had arrested him. He also maintained that the contractor’s arrest was illegal, as he was not served notice. “But after hearing the counsel of the accused, the court declined Chheda’s bail plea,” said a police officer. “We showed the court the evidence against Chheda and delineated his role in the case, after which his plea was rejected.”

Chheda, 42, a representative of Highway Construction Company, was arrested on November 24 by the EOW. He was booked along with unknown BMC officials for causing losses worth ₹6 crore to the civic body by overlooking delays in construction.

According to the EOW, the BMC had awarded Highway Construction Company a contract to build oxygen-generation plants in nine of its hospitals and two Jumbo Covid centres. The hospitals were V N Desai Hospital, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital, GTB Hospital, Kasturba Hospital, BYL Nair Hospital, R N Cooper Hospital, K B Bhabha Hospital, KEM Hospital and ATMG Sion Hospital.

“The work was to be completed in 30 days, failing which the contractor had to pay a fine of one percent of the contract amount for every week of delay,” said an EOW official. “Chheda was even fined ₹3.16 crore under this clause. But we found that the dates for ‘Handed over’ and ‘Taking over’ in the civic reports did not match in many cases, and the BMC should have collected another ₹6 crore as penalty.”

Officials from the agency said the contract was awarded to Chheda even though he was not eligible for the tender. He and his accomplices also allegedly faked reports showing that the work was done by August 2021 although it was not completed till October 2021.

“We have applied IPC sections like 418 (cheating with knowledge that wrongful loss may ensue to person whose interest offender is bound to protect), 465 (punishment for forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security etc), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 218 (public servants framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save a person from punishment or property from forfei­ture), 120 B (conspiracy) and 34 (common intention),” said the EOW official.

The EOW has already registered five cases in the alleged irregularities that took place during the pandemic. Apart from the oxygen-generation plant scam, it has registered cases in alleged scams matters related to the Jumbo Centre of Lifeline Hospitality Services, khichdi distribution, body bag purchases and Remdesivir injections.