Pune: Contractor Booked For Attempt To Defraud Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran
Pune 22nd Oct 2023: A brazen attempt to defraud the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran department of a staggering sum of Rs 1 crore has recently been exposed. This audacious act of deception involved the submission of a fake bank guarantee, leading to the registration of a case against the implicated contractor at the Bund Garden police station. The accused, identified as Babasaheb Jaywant Samrit, a 52-year-old resident of Shevgaon, Ahmednagar, was named in the complaint filed by sub-divisional engineer Shrikant Madhukar Raut.
The Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran plays a pivotal role in formulating water supply and drainage plans and executing essential projects. To engage contractors for these critical initiatives, public notices are issued, inviting open tenders. Subsequently, the submitted tenders are diligently reviewed and processed by the office of the executive engineer. Upon receiving approval from the Ministry of Water Supply, the work is allocated to the contractors.
In this particular case, tenders were invited for the project involving the retrofitting of the water supply scheme at Vadgaon Rasai, Sadalgaon. Remarkably, the accused contractor emerged as the sole applicant for this venture through the online tendering process. After meticulous scrutiny, a tender worth Rs. 1,3,36,038 was approved and sent for final approval. Following the green signal from the ministry, executive engineer NN Bhoi issued a work order. According to the terms and conditions of the approved tender, the contractor is entitled to a ‘Mobilisation Advance’ of five per cent before commencing work, and an additional five per cent after project initiation. However, the disbursement of this advance is contingent on the contractor maintaining at least five per cent of the tender amount in their bank account and providing a legitimate bank guarantee to the authorities.
In this case, Samrit presented a bank guarantee amounting to a whopping Rs. 1,14,68,168, purportedly from the Vasai branch of Union Bank of India. The bank guarantee’s cover letter bore the signature of the bank’s branch manager, along with the bank’s official seal. However, upon verification, it was revealed that Samrit’s bank guarantee was a counterfeit document. This discovery led to an immediate suspension of the mobilisation advance payment, and a staff member was dispatched to the bank’s office for further verification. Subsequently, the bank, in written communication, confirmed the fraudulent nature of the presented bank guarantee.
Despite Samrit’s audacious attempt to deceive the government using a bogus bank guarantee, government regulations mandate that the contractor must continue the assigned project as per the work order until criminal charges are filed against him. Consequently, the authorities have commenced the ‘retrofitting’ work for the water supply scheme at Vadgaon Rasai, Sadalgaon, with Samrit still responsible for the project until further legal action is taken against him.
