Reacting to the case filed by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case of undue favour done to Adani enterprises, Virendra Singh former chairman of the apex body of consumer cooperatives NCCF has refused to talk to media.
”The investigations are on and I will not comment on the subject” Singh who was a regular at co-op conferences taking places in Delhi till recently, said.
When this correspondent insisted on sharing some of his reactions on the CBI case, he slammed the phone.
It bears recall that CBI has filed a case against Adani Enterprises Ltd, NCCF former Chairman Virendra Singh, NCCF former MD S C Singhal, NCCF Senior Advisor and several government officials over alleged irregularities in supply of coal to the Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO).
The matter relates to 2010 when APGENCO floated a tender enquiry for supply of six lakh metric tonnes of imported coal on free on rail destination basis to Narla Tata Rao Thermal Station (NTTPS), Vijaywada and Rayalasaleema Thermal Power Plant (RTTP), Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh/RTPP via Kakinada-Vizag-Chennai-Krishnapatnam or any other Ports.
The issue was forwarded by the Chief Engineer, APGENCO to seven PSUs namely PEC Limited, STC Limited, MSTC Limited, NCCF, MMTC and others.
The FIR says,”NCCF received bids from six companies – Adani Enterprises Ltd, Maheshwari Brothers Coal Limited (MBCL), Vyom Trade Links Pvt. Ltd, Swarana Projects Pvt. Ltd, Gupta Coal India Ltd and Kyori Oremen Ltd.
“Post tender negotiations were done by senior officials of NCCF to give undue favour to Adani Enterprises Ltd despite it did not qualify for the tender,” the FIR said, adding that instead of cancelling the bid of Adani Enterprise Ltd. senior management of NCCF conveyed the offer margin to the company through a representative — Munish Sehgal,
who was sitting in the NCCF head office, according to Economic Times report.
Meanwhile, Adani Enterprises said the company has not done anything wrong in supply of coal. It’s a preliminary investigation report only. “The company shall respond to the same and also put forth the factual position to the authority,” according to an Adani spokesperson.
Indian Cooperative had reported the matter on July 11, 2011under the title “NCCF under CBI Scanner!”( https://www.indiancooperative.com/featured/nccf-under-cbi-scanner/)
We had reported that then NCCF Chief Vigilance Officer K S Bariyar had prepared a report and sent it to Ministry CVO who had made a strong case for a CBI Inquiry in the matter and referred the same to the Minister.