HC stays CBI probe against TCE in ₹800-crore JNPA dredging case

Under the Capital Dredging Project, JNPA’s navigational channels were dredged between 2003 and 2019 to enable larger container vessels to access the port

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday stayed a probe initiated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE) over alleged irregularities worth ₹800 crore during dredging of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority’s (JNPA) navigational channels between 2003 and 2019.

HC stays CBI probe against TCE in ₹800-crore JNPA dredging case

The division bench of justices Ajey Gadkari and Rajesh Patil observed that the memo listing the items seized by the CBI also disclosed the password of the laptop owned by the then project director at TCE, Devdutt Bose, an accused in the case. This, according to the court, was in violation of provisions of the Information Technology Act.

“How can you do that? You have caused damage to someone and a number of people have seen it. This is a very sensitive matter which involves tampering. This in itself is mandatory grounds for discharge,” the court remarked.

Under the Capital Dredging Project, JNPA’s navigational channels were dredged to enable larger container vessels to access the port. The CBI initiated a preliminary enquiry (PE) into the dredging project in June 2022, to probe allegations of complicity between certain JNPA officials and private companies which led to inflated estimates, restriction of competition, undue favours to some international bidders, and suppression of reports of independent experts/ organisations.

The agency registered a first information report (FIR) based on the findings of the PE on June 18, 2025. The accused named in the FIR included JNPA’s then chief engineer Sunil Kumar Madabhavi, TCE’s then project director Devdutt Bose, Boskalis Smit India LLP, Jan De Nul Dredging India Private Limited, and other unidentified public servants and private persons.

According to the FIR, the JNPA in December 2010 issued a notice saying the dredging work would be undertaken in two phases. But in reality, the planning and implementation of the two phases overlapped, violating guidelines of the Competition Commission of India. JNPA officials along with TCE, the project management consultant, kept ‘continuous dredging condition’ in the tender document for the second phase and allegedly did not permit demobilisation and remobilisation of dredging vessels to favour certain foreign bidders, the FIR said.

The CBI subsequently conducted searches at the residential premises of certain JNPA and TCE officials and the offices of private companies named in the FIR in Mumbai and Chennai. The searches led to the recovery of a number of digital devices and documents relating to the dredging project which are being examined, said CBI officials.