New Delhi: A special court Monday accepted a closure report filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case against Suresh Kalmadi, former chairman of the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) organising committee.
The games were hosted in Delhi from 3 to 14 October 2010. Every aspect of it, from the Capital’s beautification to the management of the games, was embroiled in controversy over allegations of mismanagement and irregularities, triggered by a Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report.
According to media reports at the time, at least 19 First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered in relation to the irregularities. However, a perusal of the cases, spread over 15 years, shows that nobody has been able to fix responsibility for the ‘scam’.
There have been at least two convictions. However, the appeals filed by the accused are pending in the Delhi High Court, with the convicts out on bail. At least 12 cases have been closed, and another 5 trials are pending in courts.
The first conviction came in August 2015, in an FIR pertaining to the upgradation of street lighting in Delhi. In total, 6 people were found guilty. This included four MCD officials—former superintendent engineer D.K. Sugan, executive engineer O.P. Mahala, accountant Raju V. and tender clerk Gurcharan Singh—as well as J.P. Singh and T.P. Singh, directors of the Rajouri Garden-based company that bagged the contract for the project.
The accused approached the Delhi High Court, which suspended the sentence over the course of the next few months and granted them bail, noting that “the appeals were not likely to be heard in the near future”. While the accused are out on bail, the appeals remain pending.
Another conviction came in May 2017 in a case pertaining to the upgradation and renovation of two stadiums—Shivaji stadium and Talkatora stadium. The court awarded a two-and-a-half-year jail term to two of the directors—Raja Aederi and Uday Shankar Bhat— of the firm that had been given the contracts.
However, two months later, in July 2017, the Delhi High Court temporarily suspended their sentence, and confirmed this suspension in January 2018. The appeals remain pending.
Also Read: 19 FIRs, 15 yrs, zero accountability—unresolved saga of CWG ‘scam’ that changed Delhi & its politics
Cases against Kalmadi
The ED case against Kalmadi was initiated on the basis of a complaint the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed in August 2012. It also named the then CWG chief operating officer, V.K. Gautam, CWG treasurer, A.K. Mattoo, and secretary general of the games organising committee, Lalit Bhanot, as well as the CEO of M/s Event Knowledge Service (EKS) Switzerland Craig Gordon Melatchey, and other unknown persons.
The case involved allegations of misconduct in awarding and execution of two important work contracts for the event—the Games Workforce Service (GWS) and Games Planning, Project & Risk Management Services (GPPRMS).
However, the CBI filed a closure report in January 2014, which it said was because of the lack of incriminating evidence during the investigation. This closure report was accepted by a special judge at Patiala House Court in February 2016.
The ED’s closure report, accepted Monday, said that its findings were in line with CBI’s findings in the case, and closed the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case against the above accused, including Kalmadi.
Another FIR was filed against Kalmadi in 2010 over the alleged loss of over Rs 90 crore to the exchequer, owing to a lucrative contract being awarded to a Swiss company to install a Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) system for the Commonwealth Games at an exorbitant cost.
The CBI filed a chargesheet in the case in May 2011, calling Kalmadi the “main accused” in the case, and two supplementary chargesheets post that. These chargesheets named 8 other people, including Lalit Bhanot and then CWG organising committee director general V.K. Verma, as well as two companies.
However, the evidence stage in the case has been ongoing since 2013, with most of the witnesses being government officials who have since retired or were transferred. The case has come up at least 670 times before the court, but the trial is still pending.
Pending cases
Apart from the case against Kalmadi, there are at least four cases related to the games that are currently pending before courts in Delhi.
A trial pertaining to the alleged irregularities in merchandising and retailing is currently at the prosecution evidence stage. Six former CWG organising committee officials, along with two firms and their director, are accused in the case.
Arguments are being heard in another trial pertaining to the venue overlays—temporary facilities at various venues, provided during the operational phase of the games. The FIR in the case was filed in 2011, but the court finally took cognisance of the offences only in October 2022.
A third case pertains to the ‘Queen’s Baton Relay’, which goes around the world after beginning at Buckingham Palace in London. While two FIRs were filed alleging financial irregularities in the relay, the CBI filed a combined chargesheet in the case.
The trial is currently at the prosecution evidence stage, and is particularly tricky because at least three witnesses reside in London. In July last year, the court allowed a CBI application to record the evidence from these foreign witnesses through video conferencing.
In January this year, the court received a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs, with queries on the likely duration of the evidence and other details. The letter also communicated the procedure that would be followed during the hearing. On 4 March, CBI told the court that at least 115 days were required for transmitting the details through MHA and for recording evidence of the proposed witnesses. The court allowed it this time period.
A fourth pending case was registered by the ED against Aederi and Bhat, pertaining to the allegations involving upgradation and renovation of Talkatora and Shivaji stadiums. It was only in December last year that the court took cognisance of the ED complaint, and ordered that Aederi and Bhat be summoned. The trial in the case is therefore set to begin.
10 FIRs closed by 2014
At least 10 FIRs related to the CWG ‘scam’ were closed by 2014, according to media reports from the time.
These included a case filed against 10 Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials over alleged financial irregularities in the contract for the construction of badminton and squash courts at Siri Fort Stadium. The CBI’s closure report was accepted in May 2014.
The same month, the court accepted another CBI closure report in a case concerning the production and coverage contract for the games. This special court also accepted another closure report in May 2014, in an FIR related to the broadcast networking services during the Games.
In April 2014, another case related to the upgradation and renovation of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Swimming Pool Complex was closed after the special court accepted the CBI closure report.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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