Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has not started an inquiry against the former managing director of Maharashtra State Electri-city Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) Ajoy Mehta, who is the current Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief, for his decisions despite giving an assurance on the floor of the House.
Opposition leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil has levelled serious allegations against Mr Mehta for clearing tender of '4,372 crore, in a single day.
State power minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule had assured an inquiry into the matter.
Right to Information (RTI) activist Jeetendera Ghadge had sought information about the details of the inquiry but it has now come to light that nothing has been done in this case so far. During the 2016 Budget session of the Legislative Assembly,
Mr Vikhe-Patil had said, “During Mr Mehta’s tenure at the MSEDCL, tenders worth '4,372 crore were cleared in a single day by the changing tender conditions at the company level." The Opposition leader had also claimed that he has documents to support the allegations.
Two other MLAs, Vijay Wadettiwar and Sunil Kedar had also levelled allegations against Mr Mehta. All of them have demanded that a special investigation team investigate the matter. But, the power minister had rejected the demand by declaring a departmental inquiry into the matter.
Mr Ghadge sought information under the RTI Act about the outcome of an inquiry, but the power ministry replied stating that there was no departmental inquiry was
conducted.
“Mr Mehta might be appointed as the next chief secretary and hence it’s important that the chief minister makes him face an independent enquiry and clears his name regarding the allegations. Mr Bawankule should also come clean on his announcement of the inquiry and make the report public if someone has conducted the inquiry,” said Mr Ghadge.
Mr Vikhe-Patil slammed the government for not keeping its word. “This shows how the government is supporting dubious deals and officers,” said Mr Patil.
Meanwhile, The Asian Age tried to contact Mr Bawankule but he was unavailable for comment.
