Trouble could be brewing for BJP MP Sanjay Kakade from Pune. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) told the Bombay High Court yesterday that it has started an 'open inquiry' into allegations of irregularities in the tender process of the Sion-Panvel highway's toll naka
BJP MP Sanjay Kakade
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Trouble could be brewing for BJP MP Sanjay Kakade from Pune. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) told the Bombay High Court yesterday that it has started an 'open inquiry' into allegations of irregularities in the tender process of the Sion-Panvel highway's toll naka.
Kakade owns one half of the joint venture that bagged the toll booth contract.
On being apprised of it, a bench of Justices Ranjit More and Revati Mohite Dere asked for the deadline by when the inquiry would be completed. The ACB's counsel said a maximum period of six months would be required, but the court refused to grant so much time and directed the ACB to submit a detailed report on the scope of the inquiry and the projected deadline.
The ACB had carried out a discreet inquiry into the case, after which a call was taken to carry out an open inquiry. The state government had given the nod for it as the public works department (PWD) and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation are involved in the alleged irregularities.
In November 2008, the PWD had proposed the widening of the 20-km Sion-Panvel highway with a new toll naka at Kamothe. In June next year, the government called for a tender, and IVRCL and Kakade Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (KIPL) bagged the contract for Rs 390 crore.
Activist Pravin Wategaonkar later filed a petition in court claiming that the PWD had shown a bias when awarding the R1705-crore project. He alleged that KIPL did not have any experience of executing such a huge project.
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