VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, June 13: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday gave permission to the Anti-Corruption Bureau to prosecute the then chairman of the Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) Shivendra Nath Verma and the then member of finance of JSEB Aloka Sharan.
A complaint 07 A (A)/2016 was lodged at the ACB against them under sections 120 B, 420, 511, 468 and 471 of IPC and section 13 (2), 13 (1) (D) of PC Act.
Verma is currently the managing director of the Uttrakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited and Sharan is currently the principal director of INCATS.
It is alleged that both officials in connivance with officials of the JSEB, BHEL and Northern Power Erector Limited (NPEL) entered into a conspiracy to award the repair and maintenance contract of Suwarnrekha Hydro Electricity Project, Sikidari to Bhel, Bhopal at a cost of Rs 20.87 Crore whereas the actual cost was only Rs 2.5 Crore. The contract was awarded in 2012. BHEL (Bhopal) in turn sublet the work to NPEL worth Rs 15.32 Crore. NPEL completed the work with a total expenditure of Rs 5.55 Crore. But the work was not up to the mark. In 2005, the JSEB had awarded the contract to BHEL for the maintenance of the Sikidari unit and the amount involved was Rs 59.75 lakh. But seven years later, the cost was increased under a conspiracy to loot public money.
