Bhanot opposes charges in CWG graft case

New Delhi - Former secretary-general of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) organising committee, Lalit Bhanot on Tuesday opposed in a Delhi special court the charges against him in a corruption case related to the 2010 sporting event held here.

Bhanot’s counsel Ramesh Gupta told Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Talwant Singh that the investigating officer did not examine the documents submitted by company MSL Spain in the bidding process for the contract for timing-scoring-result (TSR) machine.

According to the prosecution, two bids were received for the TSR contract from Swiss Timing and MSL Spain and these were opened Nov 4, 2009 but former CWG organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi and his associates V.K. Verma had Oct 12, 2009 announced in a meeting that the contract would be awarded to Swiss Timing.

Bhanot was part of the conspiracy for causing financial irregularities in organising the Commonwealth Games, the CBI alleged.

Bhanot alleged MSL Spain used forged documents in the bidding. The forms submitted by the company were not duly filled as few columns were left blank.

“If some column of a form is left blank, then it does not contain complete information,” said Gupta. He added that it was mandatory for every company taking part in the bidding process to fill the form with complete information.

The court was hearing arguments on charge in a corruption case related to the 2010 CWG held here.

The CBI in its first charge sheet in the case against Kalmadi and 10 others described him as a prime accused and the mastermind in the corruption case related to financial irregularities in awarding the Rs.141 crore contract for the scoring system.

The accused officials and two companies were charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating, criminal conspiracy and forgery and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.