Electoral Bond: In an apparent case of bribery, the CBI has filed a FIR against Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd, the second-largest purchaser of electoral bonds valued at ₹ 966 crore.
Alleged Bribery Involving MECON, NISP, and NMDC Officials
In addition, two MECON officials and eight NISP and NMDC officials were identified in the FIR for allegedly accepting bribes totaling about ₹ 78 lakh to settle Megha Engineering bills totaling ₹ 174 crore in relation to work connected to the Jagdalpur integrated steel plant.
Based on statistics given by the Election Commission on March 21, Megha Engineering emerged as the second-largest buyer of electoral bonds and gave the highest donation to the BJP, totaling over ₹ 586 crore.
Distribution of Political Donations by Megha Engineering
Additionally, the business gave ₹ 195 crore to BRS, ₹ 85 crore to DMK, and ₹ 37 crore to YSRCP. About ₹ 25 crore went to the TDP and ₹ 17 crore to the Congress from the corporation. The JD-S, JD-U, and Jana Sena Party received smaller amounts, between ₹ 5 crore and ₹ 10 crore.
The preliminary inquiry into the alleged bribery in the ₹ 315 crore project related to the works of the intake well, pump house, and cross-country pipeline at the integrated steel plant Jagdalpur, which was awarded to the company, was opened by the CBI on August 10, 2023, according to the FIR made public on Saturday.
Formal Investigation Recommended for Alleged Bribery
A recommendation to open a formal investigation into the suspected bribery was made on March 18 and filed on March 31 based on the results of the preliminary inquiry. Retired executive director Prashant Dash, director of production DK Mohanty, general manager (GM) PK Bhuyan, DM Naresh Babu, senior manager Subro Banerjee, retired CGM (finance) L Krishna Mohan, general manager (finance) K Rajshekhar, and manager (finance) Somnath Ghosh are among the eight NISP and NMDC Ltd. officials named by the CBI. They are alleged to have received a bribe of ₹ 73.85 lakh.
MECON Officials Accused in Bribery Case
The agency has also named two MECON Ltd. officials, AGM (contracts) Sanjeev Sahay and DGM (contracts) K Illavarsu, who are accused of receiving ₹ 5.01 lakh in exchange for NMDC Ltd. paying ₹ 174.41 crore to MEIL for 73 invoices from Megha Engineering and General Manager Subhash Chandra Sangras, among others. The case also names Chandra and Megha Engineering as accused parties.
