Srinagar: An anti-corruption court here has ruled out the role of three officers, including a former vice-chairman of Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA), in awarding a contract of purchasing two weed harvesters for Dal Lake to a company against the basic rules of tendering.
Disposing of the case after 15 years, the Court of Special Judge (Anti-Corruption) Kashmir, Yesh Paul Bourney, acquitted former VC LAWDA Khursheed Ahmad Naqeeb, Muhammad Ramzan Bhat, then Executive Engineer LAWDA and Muhammad Rashid-ud-Din Kundangar who served the Authoritys Director, Research and Development. There is absolutely no evidence against the three accused having made any pecuniary gains either for themselves or for any other person, the court ruled. Therefore, their conduct in the transaction cannot be termed as criminal conduct as defined under section 5(1)(d) of PC Act and question of their having conspired with other accused does not arise. The court observed that the prosecution has failed to bring home the charge against them. The court, however, disapproved probe by Vigilance Organization Kashmir (VOK) that allowed a former bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah to go scot-free, saying he, in his capacity as then VC LAWDA, awarded the contract to the firm, M/S Tebma Shipyard Ltd. The officer who actually was at the central stage and hence instrumental in awarding the contract has been left out by the investigating agency for the reasons best known to them, the court said, adding: The complicity of then VC LAWDA Wajahat Habibullah in awarding contract to M/S Temba Shipyard Ltd is wide open from the overwhelming material on record. The award of contract was in total disregard of the basic rules of tendering.
The court observed that the tendering process was mere eyewash and left in no manner any doubt that the company was chosen by Habibullah. Otherwise, the court said, the product offered by the company was only in its conceptualized form as against the specific models offered already by the other two foreign companiesM/S Aquarius Water Management System and M/S Speed Craft Limited.
The then VC LAWDA (Wajahat Habibullah) has never been questioned about the deal by the investigating agency when it was primarily his responsibility as head of the purchase committee to see due process was observed in right perspective and the best machines available in the market were chosen that too at competitive prices. The other members being his subordinates could not have influenced him, the court said.
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