In a fresh report submitted to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday, Vigilance Minister Atishi has accused Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar of using his position as the chairman of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) to enable a “lucrative collaboration” with the company of his son, Karan Chauhan, government sources said.
According to Ms. Atishi’s “supplementary report”, the company was “chosen on a nomination basis without any competitive bidding process and due diligence about the competence or experience in healthcare or virtual reality”.
“If the ILBS expertise and database were made commercially available through competitive bidding, large sums of revenue would have accrued to the institute. Instead, it was provided free of cost to a seven-month-old start-up with no experience or expertise,” the report said.
The institute issued a statement terming the allegations “totally baseless and without merit”.
It added that the ILBS had signed an MoU with MetaMix Technologies Pvt. Ltd on January 24, 2003, for six months for research work on augmented reality technology “with zero expenditure” to the institute.
When reached for comment, the Chief Secretary did not respond.
The development comes a day after Ms. Atishi wrote to the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the alleged involvement of the Chief Secretary, Divisional Commissioner Ashwani Kumar, and others in an alleged land scam.
The case pertains to the acquisition of a 19-acre land parcel, which was acquired in south-west Delhi’s Bamnoli village by the National Highways Authority of India for the Dwarka Expressway project.
The land deal allegedly led to undue benefits to one of the landowners, who is said to be linked to the business associate of the Chief Secretary’s son.
In its statement on Friday, the ILBS said it is committed to “transparency and adherence to ethical practices” and that any insinuation suggesting otherwise is “entirely unfounded”.
“Karan Chauhan is not a signatory of the MoU and is not connected with the company with which ILBS signed the MoU,” the institute said, adding that he is not a shareholder, director, partner, employee or functionary in MetaMix Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
“The ILBS confirms that it did not issue any purchase order nor make any payment to any Al software developer or company,” the statement also read.
‘Loss to exchequer’
According to government sources, the report submitted to the CM on Friday states that the Chief Secretary violated the All India Services Conduct Rules.
While it did not provide the exact nature of any irregularity, the report said, “The MoU provides a huge scope for profiteering to the company by providing it with joint intellectual property rights for any IP developed through this project and 50% share of profits for any future commercialisation of work arising out of this collaboration.”
