DDCA ombudsman orders audit on Rs 6.25 cr contract

DDCA joint secretary, Rajan Manchanda, the seniormost official after the president, secretary and two other top officials left on various grounds, said association officials were unable to trace the firm’s office in the Sangam Vihar locality as given in the address.

The ombudsman of the Delhi cricket association, DDCA, has ordered a forensic audit of accounts after failing to get document details of a Rs 6.25 crore contract awarded to a firm MS Jangid JV for construction and renovation work. Officials of DDCA have also not found the firm at the address given.

Representational Image. (Twitter)

Justice (retd) Deepak Verma’s order came after receiving complaints of fraud against the company. He called for the contract documents from the DDCA apex council, tasked with running the cricket body, but did not get them. The firm tasked with the audit has called for balance sheets, minutes (of meetings), income-tax returns for the last five years and other documents.

“Vide my previous emails, I had requested Apex Council to provide me with all the financial details of DDCA accounts, however the same has not been done till date. I direct the Apex Council to provide the above-mentioned documents within seven days from today, positively,” Verma wrote in a mail to council members on Thursday.

DDCA joint secretary, Rajan Manchanda, the seniormost official after the president, secretary and two other top officials left on various grounds, said association officials were unable to trace the firm’s office in the Sangam Vihar locality as given in the address.

“The address of the company given in the contract doesn’t exist. They had given us House No. 540, gali No. 10, but there was no address beyond House No. 480. The website given also doesn’t exist. I asked Sanjay Bhardwaj (an apex council member) to visit the place, but he couldn’t find it. Some of the meetings that took place happened at an architect’s office, and not at the company’s office. Surprisingly, it has filed IT returns. The phone number and email id provided belongs to a chartered accountant. We don’t know what company this is,” Manchanda said.

Former India cricketer, Kirti Azad, a DDCA member, has written to the ombudsman asking him to stop spending money meant for cricket on legal expenses. He said former cricketers/specialists providing services such as coaching and selection for various teams haven’t received dues amounting to around Rs 4 crore.

“It will interest you to note that cricketers who have provided services to DDCA and to various Delhi teams over the past decade have still not received their payments while lawyers and other professionals have been given large sums for fighting cases in various courts,” Azad wrote.