BMC staff's slap on contractors' wrist may weaken case

A contractor got pre-arrest bail, saying he had already paid a penalty; officials this will set a wrong precedent and others may follow suit

The scumbags may go scot-free, after all. The BMC's engineers may have diluted its case against the six errant contractors named in the R352-crore road scam for substandard repairs by accepting a 'penalty' of up to R8 crore from two of them.

An executive engineer and four sub-engineers from the roads department have been served a show-cause notice over this. They levied the fine after the BMC filed an FIR against the contractors in April.

Rough ride: The six contractors are accused of cutting corners and making Mumbaikars' commute hell. Pic for Representation

The police said by accepting the penalty, the BMC weakened its case. It was on the grounds of payment of this penalty that two of the accused have secured anticipatory bail. The civic commissioner has now given the engineers time till Saturday evening to explain their stand.

The police said the demand drafts of the penalty were not deposited, allegedly to make sure that senior officials did not get wind of it.

The leniency shown to the errant contractors has caused an uproar in the BMC. Officials fear that it would set a wrong precedent.

Manish Kasliwal, director of KR Construction and one of the tainted contractors, got anticipatory bail on the grounds that he had already been penalised by the BMC.

Another contractor, Jitendra Kikavat of Mahavir Infrastructure, too, won a reprieve, but he pleaded on different grounds. BMC officials fear that other contractors would follow suit and demand bail on similar lines. Only one of the contractors, Deepan Shah of Relcon Infrastructure, has been arrested.

Caught in a tussle
With this uproar, the BMC might also be staring at turmoil within the house — between the administration and the engineers. While the administration says the engineers had no right to slap a penalty, the latter say they were well within their rights.

One of the engineers accused, executive engineer Kishore Yerme, told mid-day that levying fines is a routine procedure. "Every executive engineer has the right to do that. It is a routine procedure."

But all of his seniors countered this. "Under what section does an executive engineer have the power to levy fines? He should point out the section in law [does allows this]. And if they were so confident [they were doing nothing wrong], why didn't they deposit those demand drafts?" asked a senior civic official.

Officials are miffed that the engineers accepted the penalty even after the FIR was filed. They believe that this would set a wrong precedent.

Another senior official from the roads department said, "As per general contract conditions (GCC), an engineer might have the power. But why did he do it even after the FIR was filed? And didn't he feel necessary to consult his seniors?"

The powers enumerated in the GCC may not be held valid when the matter comes before the BMC chief.

The five engineers have time till Saturday evening to submit their replies. Only after that will further action be decided. Asked if they will face suspension, municipal chief Ajoy Mehta refused to comment.

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