No action has been taken against errant officials of Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation Ltd. though three years have passed since an inquiry committee submitted its report on the State government undertaking allegedly issuing tenders worth ₹150 crore in violation of Central Vigilance Commission guidelines.
On February 3 this year, former chief minister and Congress MLA Prithviraj Chavan wrote to Dr. Sandeep Rathod, managing director of Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation Ltd., seeking information on the status of the report and if any action has been taken. However, Mr. Chavan did not receive a response.
Mr. Rathod said, “I am not aware of Mr. Chavan’s letter. I will have to look into the report being talked about. As of now, I have not come across the report.”
The Hindu was first to report on the alleged violation of norms and it has now learnt that attempts to access the report through the Right to Information Act have been thwarted.
Following the allegations, the then State government on October 30, 2017, constituted a four-member inquiry committee and directed it to submit a report within a month. In the State Assembly’s winter session in December 2017, Mr. Chavan had raised the issue and the then minister-in-charge of Haffkine, Girish Bapat, said the government was looking into the allegations.
The committee finally submitted its report in May 2018, but it has been kept under wraps since then. All attempts to bring the report into the public domain have been stonewalled.
