Commonwealth Games scam: ED attaches ₹ 94.24 lakh worth of assets of firm involved in stadium renovation

The company, Raja Aederi Consultants Pvt Ltd, had submitted false documents to New Delhi Municipal Council in order to obtain four contracts pertaining to upgradation and renovation of Shivaji Stadium and Talkatora Stadium for a work of value of ₹ 1 crore

Labourers work at the Talkatora Stadium, one of the venues for the New Delhi Commonwealth Games, in this August 24, 2009 file photo.

Nine years after the Commonwealth Games (CWG) were held in India, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has attached assets worth ₹ 94.24 lakh of a company, which was involved in the renovation of two stadiums in Delhi, under a money laundering law.

The federal probe agency issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for the attachment of properties of Raja Aederi Consultants Pvt Ltd.

The firm had taken up a consultancy contract for upgradation and renovation of Shivaji Stadium and Talkatora Stadium, the agency said.

The ED had booked the firm and its directors on the basis of a CBI FIR and chargesheet filed on charges of corruption.

The ED said the company and its director Raja Aederi and Executive Director Uday Shankar Bhat have been found guilty by a trial court here.

Attached assets include property of the company lying with the NDMC and it is worth ₹ 94.24 lakh, the agency said.

The company, the agency said, had “submitted false documents to NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Council) in order to obtain four contracts pertaining to upgradation and renovation of Shivaji Stadium and Talkatora Stadium for a work of value of ₹ 1 crore (₹ 50 lakh each for both the stadiums).”

“Even though the company did not have the requisite experience, it was awarded the work of ₹ 4.25 crore for consultancy of a five-storey building with two basement at both the stadium without going for re-tendering.”

“In this manner the contracts for work amounting to ₹ 5.25 crore were wrongly awarded to Ms Raja Aederi Consultants Pvt. Ltd,” it said.

Officials said the action to attach the properties under the criminal provisions of the PMLA was undertaken after studying the chargesheet of the CBI in the case and hence it was done after so many years of the games being held in Delhi.

The CWG extravaganza was marred in allegations of blatant corruption in creation of infrastructure and procurement of items for the 2010 games and multiple agencies such as the CBI, ED and the Income Tax Department had launched separate probes soon after the conclusion of the games.