Had no option but to sign deals: Jarnail Singh

New Delhi: The CEO of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee told CNN-IBN that he had no option but to sign the inflated deals since most deals and purchases were left for the last moment.

Talking to CNN-IBN, Jarnail Singh said, "In the TSR contract, when I came into the scene, it was too late. At that stage, if I hadn't approved it, it would have put the games delivery at risk."

When asked if he believes that there was a lack of diligence in the way these contracts were approved, Jarnail Singh said, "As per the games' master schedule, which governed the different stages of all the contracts, this TSR contract should have been awarded by 2008. It was so much delayed that eventually, when Mike Fenell was pressurising, then at that time, if the time was less than one year, it was difficult to get any international vendor. So, out of the total contracts, I had seen, out of 540, only 35 to 37 contracts were awarded by December 2009. We had to do 503 contracts from January 2010 to October 2010.

CNN-IBN had found out that the sacked CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi wasn't the only one batting for Swiss Omega, the company that got the TSR deal.

The letter written by the Prime Minister's nominee and CEO of the Organising Committee, Jarnail Singh showed that he too was in favour of the contract being awarded to the Swiss company.

Written a month after the awarding of the contract to Swiss Timing, Jarnail Singh explains the entire deal in great detail to Sports Ministry.

On the first page, Jarnail wrote, "The committee's examining and processing this tender case indeed followed a valid and fair process and these officials remain protected from any allegations of malafide, which in such cases are levelled against officials by business rivalries and mischievous elements".

"In conclusion, it has to be stated that the deal was scrutinised by the OC finance committee, which has two senior government officials, the finance sub committee, which is chaired by Secretary (Urban Development) with two other serving secretaries of the government and finally by the executive board of the OC, which has several senior government officials besides the president and the CEO of CGF (Commonwealth Games Federation)."

He had also cited support for TSR deal from CEO and Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation. He had also referred to an e-mail of Mike Hooper, saying, "As you will be aware, Swiss Timing has had a long association with major multi-sports events including the last two Commonwealth Games in Manchester and Melbourne. If deemed appropriate by the Organising Committee, we would support their appointment as TSR provider."

In his defence, Jarnail Singh maintained that there was no way out but to go ahead with the deal allegedly set up by Kalmadi. Else the games would have been in danger.

A line, which has also been echoed by Mike Fennel, Chairman of the CGF, Jarnail quoted Fennel in his letter, "Processes followed by the OC seems to have fully satisfied the government procedures and advised that Swiss Timing was regarded as one of the best TSR providers. OC was also very late and any further delay would have jeopardised the Games."

The letter proves that Suresh Kalmadi was not the only individual who is responsible for decision making in the TSR deal. There were several others, including the CEO Jarnail Singh himself. So, the million dollar question is - why the CBI has not considered it necessary to summon Jarnail Singh even once.

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