Mumbai: CBI books GoI Undertaking official for bribe to clear civil firm bills

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case of illegal gratification against the Joint General Manager (GM) of IRCON International Ltd, a Government of India Undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, to allegedly clear bills of a civil contractor.

Officials said a complaint was received on Wednesday from an authorised representative of a firm in Navi Mumbai, stating that they had received a construction contract for sub-depot building and railway quarters in Village Vangaon at Palghar in July last year. As per the work order, the construction started in August.

Nitin Bokade, Joint GM of IRCON, was monitoring the work and was responsible for clearing the bills of the complainant’s firm. In March, Bokade demanded ₹70,000 as bribe for seamless clearance of bills. The complainant, however, ignored the demand.

Here is what exactly happened

On March 20, though, the firm received a notice from IRCON regarding defects in construction work with directions to resolve the issue within seven days. On March 30, the complainant visited Bokade in his office to discuss the issue, when the demand for money was allegedly made. As per the FIR, Bokade also warned of similar such notices if his demand wasn’t met. He also allegedly threatened to not allow work to complete.

The verification of the complaint was conducted on Wednesday and the bribe demand was established. A case has been registered under section 7 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.