CBI slaps second case against IITM scientist for irregularities in SAFAR project

The CBI has registered a second FIR against IITMPune scientist Gurfan Beig and others for the alleged sanctioning of Chinamade LED boards for air quality and weather information display at exorbitant rates to be installed in Ahmedabad officials said on MondayBeig was earlier chargesheeted in a separate case related to such LED boards to be installed in Pune His application to be discharged from the case was dismissed by the special court recentlyThe fresh case filed recently pertains to the installation of LED boards in Ahmedabad they saidThe agency has alleged that Beig and other unidentified officials of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology IITM had diluted the terms and conditions and the essential specifications of items in the tender for the installation of the digital display system DDS under the project System for Air Quality and Weather Forecasting amp Research for Ahmedabad SAFARAhmedabadThe tender for 12 LED display boards four indoor LED displays to be supplied fixed and installed along with an operation and maintenance contract for five years was awarded to Mumbaibased Video Wall India Private Limited they saidIt is also alleged that Anil Girkar director of Video Wall India fraudulently claimed that his company was an original equipment manufacturer OEM of the boardsHowever he imported the panels from China and assembled them for supply to the IITM The boards allegedly did not meet the specifications given in the tenderGirkar and Video Wall India are also accused in the CBI FIR along with BeigAccording to the CBI the boards that were imported for Rs 54 lakh at the rate of Rs 450 lakh per piece were supplied for Rs 176 crore at the rate of Rs 1470 lakh per pieceThe Central Bureau of Investigation CBI had already filed a charge sheet against Beig and Girkar in similar charges for the supply of boards for the SAFARPune Project in 2021The agency had alleged in the charge sheet that Beig being the chairperson of the Technical Evaluation Committee diluted the prebid conditionsHe allegedly reduced the last three years turnover limit drastically from Rs 50 crore to Rs 3 crore to accommodate Video Wall India as one of the biddersIt was alleged that he rejected the bid of MIC Electronics Ltd Hyderabad for the SAFAR Project at Pune on bogus and flimsy groundsIn its charge sheet the CBI alleged that in the test report in respect of Digital Display Boards supplied by Video Wall India Beig and others certified that the items had been found okay as per the specifications of the IITM and also recommended to pass the bills of the supplier for payment without having tested the items at any laboratory to ascertain or confirm the specificationThe CBI alleged that Beig did not ask for the source of procurement as well as the make of the items and certified the certifications based on the selfcertified test reports obtained from the supplier itselfA special court recently rejected the application of Beig to be discharged from the case noting that there appears grave suspicion and sufficient ground to proceed with trial against himThe charge against the present applicant and accused does not appear groundless the court had notedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever