Says 'victimised' official in a letter to Vilasrao Deshmukh, Minister of Heavy Industries. Allegedly the officer was dismissed when he 'ignored orders' and favoured another firm which got the tender
Says 'victimised' official in a letter to Vilasrao Deshmukh, Minister of Heavy Industries. Allegedly the officer was dismissed when he 'ignored orders' and favoured another firm which got the tender
Sexual harassment at workplace, blackmail, a scam worth Rs 1,800 crore and finally termination of job of the officer who reportedly dared to protest!u00a0
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Wrong move: GK Sharma, NATRiP's former director (Technical), was terminated by the company on June 11 on various charges including harassing a female colleague in October 2007 Representative Photo |
Who said government departments were staid and boring?
If documents produced in court by an American company and a letter written by the 'victimised official' are to be believed, the dismissed director (Technical) of National Automotive Testing and Research & Development Infrastructure Project (NATRiP), an organisation under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Dr GK Sharma, was framed by his senior on charges of sexual harassment, forced to tender an apology for the same and then blackmailed to favour a certain company in the tendering process. And when after two years of blackmail, he allegedly 'disobeyed his senior' and the tender was allocated to another company, he was dismissed.
The case
NATRiP, one of the largest initiatives in the automotive sector, to create a state-of-the-art testing and R&D infrastructure in the country, has been accused of flouting norms to award tenders to a certain company. NATRiP has been sanctioned Rs 1,800 crore to set up test centres and upgrade existing centres. The tenders allocated to a certain company by allegedly flouting norms, are included in this sum.
Meanwhile, GK Sharma, NATRiP's former director (Technical), was terminated by the company on June 11 on various charges including harassing a female colleague in October 2007. But Sharma says he is being framed.
'I'm being framed'
In a letter to Vilasrao Deshmukh, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises and the secretary to the ministry, Sharma has accused the Chief Executive Officer of NATRiP, Rajesh Singh, of blackmailing him on false sexual harassment charges to force him to favour a company called AVL. (MiD Day has copies of the letter written by Sharma and his termination letter).
The value of the two tenders awarded to AVL in 2008 was Rs 39 crore and Rs 56 crore. In 2007, Santosh Mohan Dev was the Heavy Industries Minister.
In his letter, Sharma said, "Another allegation in my termination letter is about my misbehaviour with women staff and refers to one case of apology which is worded in a way to show me in a bad light. The issue of apology is two years old, in year 2007 [sic]. I had been implicated in October 2007 by Rajesh Singh in a case of harassment of an employee. At that time also no complaint was shown to me, or any charge sheet given. I had appealed for an inquiry as I believed Rajesh Singh, the then officiating CEO, had played a mischievous role but the then secretary in the Heavy Industries ministry, Dr Panda, to avoid embarrassment to the department and fearing a media flare-up, asked me to tender an apology. Since I had then submitted the apology, Rajesh Singh, on many occasions to put pressure, had indirectly hinted to exploit this matter at some appropriate time. The termination letter served to me in June 2009 refers to my misbehaviour with women staff. I wonder which other complaints from women staff he has manipulated to put this allegation on me or should I conclude that the CEO is so casual and careless with dignity of fellow beings that any allegations can be framed and generalised?"
Meanwhile, Sharma's termination letter, hinting at sexual harassment, is also part of the documents submitted in court by Burke E Porter Machinery Company of USA, one of the bidders in the tendering process, which was finally allotted to AVL.
Burke E Porter has alleged NATRiP had reportedly awarded the tenders to AVL after blackmailing Sharma, who played an important role in the technical assessment of a bidder. The US company alleges that in 2009, when the tender went to another firm, Sharma was terminated from his service by the CEO of the company.
Talking to MiD DAY, Sharma said, "Whatever you have heard is correct. I have started a new consultancy with a US firm and do not want to recall the past incidences."
Tripping on NATRiPThe Government of India has set up an independent society, the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP), as the apex body to set up testing, validation and R&D infrastructure across seven locations in the country. The organisation comes under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
The Other SideMiD DAY tried to contact CEO of NATRiP Rajesh Singh but he was not available for comments.
