Kalmadi harassed those who did not toe the line

In a scenario familiar to most employees with a mind of their own, it has now come to light that former CWG chief Suresh Kalmadi threatened, harassed and removed those officials from the Organising Committee who declined to abide by his directions.

In a scenario familiar to most employees with a mind of their own, it has now come to light that former CWG chief Suresh Kalmadi threatened, harassed and removed those officials from the Organising Committee who declined to abide by his directions.

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This information came to light with the Central Bureau of Investigation opposing Kalmadi’s bail in the Rs 107 crore Timing, Scoring and Results (TSR) devices scam.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) counsel launched a slew of blows at Kalmadi saying, “He tarnished the image of India globally,” with the scam, even as the country played host to an international sporting event.

Nailing Kalmadi’s conduct in OC decisions, the agency said, “The accused persons had become so brazen and bold… that they openly declared that TSR will be provided by Swiss Timing even when the tender was on and not a single bid had been received.”

The agency alleged he had “supreme, overriding powers…”. As a result, the Pune MP’s decision to award the TSR contract to Swiss Timing Limited caused a loss of over Rs 90 crore to the exchequer. Kalmadi was arrested, along with OC joint director general (Sport) ASV Prasad and OC deputy director general (Procurement) Surjit Lal on April 25.

“Any OC official, who dared to protest the illegal activities of accused Suresh Kalmadi and his associates was threatened, harassed and removed from their position or were forced to leave,” said the investigating agency in its reply to CBI Judge Talwant Singh.

Senior advocate UU Lalit, appearing for Kalmadi, rejected CBI’s charges and said he had no role in the scam.

He also asked the court to grant bail to Kalmadi on medical grounds. The court has reserved the order on the bail plea till May 20.