Amid corruption inquiry, monorail top boss Murthy shunted by MMRDA

MMRDA’s independent internal inquiry and investigation comes close on the heels of the ongoing Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) probe into a case registered against Murthy for allegedly taking a bribe from a private contractor in 2021. Murthy, who joined MMRDA around 2016-17, is expected to retire soon

MUMBAI: DLN Murthy, the controversial chief operating officer (COO) of the Mumbai monorail, has been shunted out by MMRDA, which has instituted an inquiry against him. Murthy is currently additional chief (transport planning) of the T&C division of MMRDA.

HT Image

In August, Murthy was asked to step down by MMRDA, which is conducting an inquiry into alleged discrepancies in monorail tenders, including inflation of the tender quotation estimates for monorail components during the time when Murthy was COO.

MMRDA’s independent internal inquiry and investigation comes close on the heels of the ongoing Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) probe into a case registered against Murthy for allegedly taking a bribe from a private contractor in 2021. Murthy, who joined MMRDA around 2016-17, is expected to retire soon.

“On the basis of the preliminary inquiry and the ongoing ACB case, Murthy was asked to step down from his earlier post,” said an official from MMRDA. “We are vetting all the monorail tenders that were passed during his tenure. When we scrutinised two or three sample tenders in detail, we found some discrepancies. This was the basis of our preliminary inquiry, which is expected to be completed this month.”

The ongoing inquiries are based on allegations of inflated amounts in the tenders for different components of the monorail, administration works and other things that run into lakhs of rupees.

MMRDA officials said the tenders, which called for purchase of components and other works, ranged anywhere between 15 and 25 percent of the market value. There is no clarity on how many tenders were manipulated and what the extent of corruption was, as the matter is still under investigation.

The Mumbai Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which has been probing the alleged bribery case against Murthy, is still waiting for a technical evidence report from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Kalina. The case was registered in August 2021 after Murthy allegedly demanded ₹20 lakh from the owner of a facility management firm in order to clear the bills of services rendered by the complainant’s firm.

“The reports are still pending,” said an ACB official. “An open inquiry has also been initiated as per the procedure. The ACB is checking the assets and property of Murthy, his family members and close relatives.”

The complainant’s firm provides housekeeping, maintenance and customer services, and had taken a contract from January 2019 to August 2020 and submitted a bill of ₹2.5 crore. The complainant had also paid ₹32 lakh as bank guarantee to Mumbai Monorail. Murthy cleared the bills of ₹2.10 crore in 2021 and ₹22 lakh from the deposit amount. He allegedly demanded ₹20 lakh as a bribe to clear the balance amount of ₹50 lakh.

The complainant approached the ACB in July. After verification, the police laid a trap which, however, did not work out. But based on the evidence, the ACB registered a case against Murthy, and recordings and other evidence were sent to FSL Kalina for chemical analysis.

There will be a number of departmental inquiries based on the number of discrepancies the MMRDA authority finds. A chargesheet will be filed detailing the allegations and findings, for which an explanation will be sought from Murthy.

When Hindustan Times contacted Murthy, he refused to comment. MMRDA officials confirmed that they had changed the monorail department head to improve efficiency in operation and maintenance. “All the departments were reviewed to identify areas for improvement,” said an MMRDA official. “An analysis was done of the failures. Teams were told to focus on reducing recurring faults and failures in the monorail.”

MMRDA is in the midst of restructuring the entire working of the organisation and its different verticals, and is streamlining projects to minimise delays. One of the measures is to eliminate corruption as much as possible.

The Mumbai monorail has been dubbed a white elephant. In 2022-23, it incurred losses of ₹255 crore while earning ₹7.50 crore. For the years 2023-24, MMRDA has pegged the losses to be around ₹529 crore. This Ganeshotsav, the daily average ridership touched 18,500, a marginal improvement over the normal figure of around 12,000 to 14,000 passengers.