BSNL-ZTE 'scam': Delhi High Court directs BSNL to initiate departmental action

The Delhi High Court has directed Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd BSNL to initiate departmental action as suggested by the Central Bureau of Investigation against its officers for allegedly formulating improper tenders and lack of planning before issuing of purchase orders of GSM telephone mobile linesThe high court made it clear that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the imputations of allegations on the officers of BSNL and any action initiated by the telecom company be taken to its logical conclusion on its own meritsThe courts order came while disposing of a plea in which it was alleged that BSNL officials allegedly caused loss of about Rs 1000 crore to the exchequer by releasing unauthorised payment to the subsidiary of a Chinese firm by fabricating documentsThe Preliminary Enquiry PE has been registered by the CBI at the instance of this court and the CBI after concluding the investigation has filed status reports before this court On a perusal of the status reports this court does not find any reason to discard the status reports filed by the CBI and pass any further directionsThis court however directs the BSNL to initiate departmental action as suggested by the CBI against its officers It is made clear that this court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the imputations of allegations on the officers of BSNL Any action initiated by the BSNL be taken to its logical conclusion on its own merits a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said in an order passed on ThursdayIt said as ordered by the apex court in the Latika Kumari case the CBI is directed to supply a copy of the entry of the closure to the petitioner disclosing the reasons in brief for closing the complaint and not proceeding furtherIt granted liberty to the petitioner NGO Telecom Watchdog to take recourse to the legal remedies in accordance with lawThe petition filed by the NGO represented through advocate Prashant Bhushan had alleged that officials of BSNL had connived with Ms ZTE Telecom India Pvt Ltd a Chinese contractor and forged official records of BSNL so that undue payments of about Rs 1000 crore could be released to the firmAlso read BSNL to launch 5G services by April 2024 Ashwini VaishnawThe CBI in its latest status report filed in the court in January stated that though money had been received by Ms Trimax IT and Infrastructure Ltd from ZTE no link has been established that the money received by them was used in bribing the officials of BSNLThe status report however suggested that departmental enquiry must be initiated against a senior officer of BSNL for making modification in the payment milestone without deliberating upon the efforts to acquire the sites which resulted into financial loss and technical degradation by having the addon work contract with ZTE at the rate of 2011It further suggested that departmental action if found necessary be taken against the officers of BSNL for formulating improper tenders and lack of planning before issuing of purchase ordersThe petition had claimed that in 2011 BSNL had invited tender for north south and east zones for 1437 million GSM mobile telephone lines on turnkey basis and following a transparent competitive bidding process ZTE emerged as the successful bidder for all three zones at a cost of Rs 420485 croreThe plea had alleged that in its tender BSNL had prescribed eight milestones for releasing payments according to which only 50 per cent payment was payable up to delivery stage and the balance to be released in stages on installation and commissioning During implementation of the project for unknown reasons BSNL kept releasing purchase orders without caring for demand in the field As a result a huge quantum of the ordered material started pilingup at Ms ZTEs stores for which BSNL had already paid 50 per cent of the equipment cost including customs duty as per the tender clauses it had allegedThe plea had claimed that certain officials of BSNL and ZTE entered into a conspiracy to release undue payment of 9510 per cent illegitimately for all such uninstalled equipment It had alleged that official documents were fabricated to release payment of 9510 per cent illegitimately to ZTEIt is apparent that the respondent CBI is not taking any action on the complaint filed by the petitioner for some unknown reasons even in such a serious matter where hundreds of crores of rupees have been released illegitimately in criminal conspiracy between officials of BSNL and a Chinese contractor by forging documents in a contract worth Rs 420485 crore the petitioner had allegedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever