Mumbai police forms SIT to inquire into BMC’s spendings worth ₹12,024 Cr

Mumbai Police have formed a special investigation team to probe alleged irregularities in the expenditure of INR12,024 crore ($1.6bn) by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had criticised the civic body for mismanagement, lack of transparency and callous handling of funds.

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Police have formed a special investigation team (SIT), as announced by chief minister Eknath Shinde, to inquire into the alleged irregularities in expenditure of ₹12,024 crore by nine departments of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

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The SIT was formed after the government issued formal orders on Wednesday. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had criticised the civic body for mismanagement, lack of transparency and callous handling of funds.

“The SIT will be led by Vivek Phansalkar, Mumbai police commissioner, and comprise officers like Nishit Mishra, joint commissioner of police, Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Sangramsinh Nishandar, DCP EOW, Mrityunjay Hiremath, ACP EOW. Various police inspectors and assistant police inspectors from the EOW will help the SIT in its inquiry,” said a senior police officer.

“We will start by studying the CAG report and then seek relevant tender documents and other records from the civic body” said the police officer. He added that a decision will be taken on registering a criminal case, depending on the findings of the inquiry.

Following a special request by the state government, the CAG had conducted an audit, and, in its report, had criticised the BMC for callous handling of funds, lack of transparency, mismanagement while rewarding contracts related to road, waste management and other projects, between November 28, 2019, and October 31, 2022.

The report pointed out that tendering process was not followed in most cases, resulting in unfair benefit to contractors.

“The state government was considering handing over the probe to the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) but later, it was decided to constitute a special team,” said a senior official from the home department.

A statement issued by the CMO stated, “The CAG’s special audit was instituted after BJP MLA Ameet Satam, who represents the Andheri West constituency, had requested the CM to investigate the irregularities by setting up a special inquiry committee.”

Among many alleged lapses, the CAG observed that two of the civic body’s departments issued 20 work orders worth ₹214.48 crore without tenders, while work orders worth ₹4,756 crore were given to 64 contractors, which could not be executed as no agreement was signed with them.

In addition, due to the non-appointment of a third-party auditor, the BMC could not conduct an audit of 13 orders worth ₹3,356 crore to check their quality.

The contracts related to Covid-19 could not be probed as the civic body had invoked provisions under the Epidemic Act 1897 and Disaster Management Act 2005 that give protection to authorities from following the mandated rules, because of time constraints.