Advocate seeks probe against MIDC officials and contractor

MIDC officials are trying to mislead an investigation that was ordered following allegations of a tainted BMC contractor getting work with it the complainant in the case has claimed The contractor firm in question has refuted the charges and termed the allegations baseless The whistleblower wants senior MIDC officials to probe the matterAdvocate Bhaskar Parab has written a letter to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation MIDC CEO and superintendent engineer SE Headquarters urging them to personally conduct an in depth probe against R K Madani amp Co and initiate action against MIDC officials who are trying to mislead the investigationAlso Read Nullah cleaning 4 per cent done 2 months to clear 96 per cent silt in MumbaiA senior MIDC official confirmed the development ldquoWe have received a letter alleging that our engineers are trying to mislead the investigation The allegations in the letter are being investigated It would not be appropriate to comment till the inquiry is completedrdquoParab had raised the red flag on a firm that has been served notice by the BMC has bagged a contract with the MIDC Last year in November midday reported about R K Madani amp Co bagging a contract worth Rs 185 crore from the MIDC in Navi MumbaiAfter middayrsquos report MIDC officials ordered an inquiry in the case But the whistleblower has alleged that a section of MIDC officials are trying to mislead and avoid the inquirylsquoNot correct informationrsquoParab in his letter has contended MIDCrsquos executive engineerrsquos observation that when R K Madani amp Co had applied for the contract there was no pending action by any government or local body ldquoI have procured the documents through RTI Right to Information In the report engineers have mentioned that action was taken against R K Madani amp Co for the period 16052019 to 31032020 Also the result of the show cause notice issued to the private firm was given on 22102021 after the action period was over But this is not the correct information In reality BMC had initiated action against Madanirsquos firm for the period 16052016 to 220321 regarding several notices The civic body had even put a ban on firms from participating in the tendering process till the outcome of the probe and notices issued to themrdquo he saidldquoThe BMC issued a show cause notice on 22032017 and the final outcome of the notice was issued on 22102021 The order mentioned that for 3 years the firm cannot participate in any tendering process of the BMC This effectively means action initiated by BMC against R K Madani amp Co was valid till 22032020 Despite pending action the controversial firm on affidavit gave false undertaking to MIDC and bagged the contract in 2020rdquo the whistle blower addedlsquoNever lied in affidavitrsquoR K Madani amp Co firm refuted all the charges and termed the allegations as baseless A senior company official stated that they have never lied in any affidavitldquoWe have got several other work contracts from BMC after the result of the show cause Saying a firm was blacklisted or deregistered by the BMC would be a wrong statement to make on the basis of a show cause notice Also MIDC had crossed checked with the BMC before awarding the work to our companyrdquo the official addedFurther elaborating on the subject the company official stated that merely issuing show cause notice does not mean one is guiltyldquoIt is a process where an explanation is sought Unless the final outcome on the show cause notice issued is not arrived at one cannot conclude whether a person or firm is guilty It would be wrong to draw a conclusion merely based on a show cause notice which is exactly happening with our caserdquo the official concluded while explaining their stand on the entire controversy that has allegedly been raked up on a complaint against them by an individual