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CBI books Padma awardee for ‘graft, criminal conspiracy’
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a corruption and criminal conspiracy case against Bharatnatyam dancer and former Sangeet Natak
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a corruption and criminal conspiracy case against Bharatnatyam dancer and former Sangeet Natak Akademi chairperson Leela Samson and four others, officials said on Saturday.
Samson is accused of “unfruitful expenditure” in Rs 7.02-crore renovation project of an auditorium of Chennai’s Kalakshetra Foundation when she was its director from 2005 to 2012.
TS Murthi, S Ramachandran, V Srinivasan and Ravi Neelakantan are the other four former officials of the Foundation, who have been booked along with Samson. The CBI also conducted searches on the premises of the accused.
The previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government appointed Samson, a recipient of India’s fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri, as the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s 12th chairperson in 2010.
She resigned from the post a year before the end of her tenure in September 2014 shortly after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government took power at the Centre.
Samson stepped down as the Kalakshetra Foundation director in 2012 after allegations of the irregularities first surfaced. In a complaint to the CBI in 2017, the Union culture ministry alleged that the Foundation officials awarded the contract for the renovation in violation of rules.
After an inquiry in 2016, the ministry alleged that the Foundation spent Rs 62.20 lakh more than the estimated amount on the Rs 7.02-crore project.
As per the Central Public Works Department, the contract was awarded at a higher rate, according to the First Information Report (FIR) registered in the case.
The ministry alleged in the complaint that the open tender process was not followed in awarding the contract.
It alleged that Samson failed to apprise the non-official members of the Works Committee about the norms and inform it about the Comptroller and Auditor General Inspection Report received in August 2011.
