Delhi: Maharashtra Sadan 'incomplete', inauguration cancelled

New Delhi: The inauguration of the Maharashtra Sadan in the national capital was cancelled on Friday after Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit directed the PWD Ministry to first complete the work.

The inauguration of the new building was slated for Saturday.

Meanwhile, reports have emerged of a possible scam involving PWD Minister Chaggan Bhujbal in the awarding of the contract for building the Sadan.

Reports say that Bhujbal allegedly awarded the contract to M/S KS Chamankar, in return for which companies run by Bhujbal's kin and associates were awarded sub contracts.

Chamankar, who was awarded the contract on a Build Operate Transfer or BOT basis, gave sub contracts to Origin Infrastructure, the directors of which are employees in Bhujbal's educational trust, the MET. Documents from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Registrar of Companies documents accessed by CNN-IBN confirm this.

Further, the contract for interiors was awarded to Ideen Furniture Pvt Ltd. Chaggan Bhujbal's daughters-in-law, Shefali and Vishakha Bhujbal, the documents show, are directors in the company.

In his defence, Chaggan Bhujbal said that there was zero loss to the exchequer because the contract awarded to M/S Chamankar was on a build-operate-transfer basis (BOT), which meant the cost of building was borne by the contractor.

On allegations that sub-contracts to companies owned by his kin were kickbacks, Bhujbal said a contract of this nature would involve more than 50 plus sub-contractors and as minister, he wasn't expected to be in the know if companies owned by his kin were given contracts.

A complaint has been filed with the states anti-corruption bureau, a copy of which has been sent to President Pratibha Patil, who was supposed to inaugurate the building, with an appeal not to associate with the opening of what the Opposition calls an edifice of corruption.

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