Will CBI's next FIR target Delhi's Lt Governor Khanna?

If all goes well and no political mishaps waylay it, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is set to file at least 20 first information reports (FIRs) connected to various Commonwealth Games (CWG) scandals. The major ones among them include the Commonwealth Village case, in which the VK Shunglu Committee has indicted Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna. The CBI has already filed 14 FIRs, and six more are under way. The Shunglu Committee, which investigated the expenditures connected with the CWG, has already indicted Tejinder Khanna, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, and officials of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for causing heavy losses to the exchequer. Subsequently, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) also made some serious accusations against Sheila Dikshit. The CBI’s FIRs have not so far named any big politician other than Suresh Kalmadi, the Chairman of the Commonwealth Organising Committee (OC), who is now in jail, but it may take cognisance of their roles during the investigations. For instance, the CBI mentions only the PWD Executive Engineer in the FIR filed for the Barapullah flyover scam. But the investigations may implicate PWD Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit (who had cleared the Barapullah project). In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V Narayanasamy said the CBI has registered a total of 17 cases (14 FIRs and three preliminary enquiries) in connection with the CWG. [caption id=“attachment_68728” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The Indian national flag is projected onto a balloon during the Commonwealth Games. Reuters”]  [/caption] Sources in the CBI say there will be 20 cases at least, though the CBI has a list of 23 cases earmarked for preliminary examination. The CWG enjoys the dubious distinction of having the maximum number of FIRs filed in a scam and the amounts involved exceed Rs 50,000 crore. The cases filed so far are: •Streetlighting (against MCD officials) •Queen’s Baton Relay Case Number 1 (against Suresh Kalmadi and other OC members and government officials) •Queen’s Baton Relay Case Number 2 (against Suresh Kalmadi and other OC members) •Time scoring and results (TSR) Scam (against Suresh Kalmadi and other OC members) •Overlays Scam (against Kalmadi and other private companies) •SIS Live (against Doordarshan officers) •Raja Aederi private consultant (against NDMC officials) •Talkatora Stadium (against NDMC officials) •Shivaji Stadium (against NDMC officials) •Lawn ball games (against officials of CPWD and DDA) •Barapullah flyover (against PWD and Delhi Administration) •Merchandising (against OC officials) •Inflated rates in setting up live feed from stadia to media centre (against MTNL) •Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium Swimming Pool The CBI has registered preliminary enquiries in the following cases: •CWG Village (Emaar MGF and DDA Officials) •Ring Road Bypass from Salimgarh Fort to Valedrome Road (PWD) •Training Centre in CWG Village (DDA officials) •Event Knowledge Service (EKS, against OC officials) •Other cases under the CBI’s active consideration are: •Huge cost incurred in synthetic tracks (against CPWD) •Badminton courts (Ministry of Urban Development) •Lawn tennis courts (Ministry of Urban Development) •Catering (against OC officials) •Publicity agreement with Sports Management & Marketing -Smam (OC officials) Kalmadi is implicated in most of the CWG cases so far. He is likely to figure in at least seven cases. The CBI has already filed a charge-sheet in the TSR case – the case in which he was arrested. The charge-sheet ensured that Kalmadi and other OC officials - Lalit Bhanot, VK Verma, Surjeet Lal and ASV Prasad -  did not get bail. Kalmadi is accused of arbitrarily giving the Rs 141-crore TSR contract to a Swiss Company through bogus invoices. He is already booked in two Queen’s Baton Relay (QBR) scams. Here, Kalmadi allegedly conspired with other accused officials to benefit a little known firm, AM Films, owned by one Ashish Patel. In both the cases, Kalmadi submitted bogus invoices of companies, like SD Display, 3-Dot Vision and Movie Tech. He is also booked in the overlays scam. He is likely to be booked in three more CWG scams – EKS, Smam and Catering.