The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an FIR against Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) which was the second-biggest buyer of electoral bonds worth Rs 966 crore, in an alleged bribery case. The company is alleged to have taken bribery in the clearance of bills related to the Jagdalpur integrated steel plant.
The FIR alleges eight executives from the Nagarnar Integrated Steel Plant (NISP), the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), and two from MECON Ltd. These people are suspected of collecting bribes of around Rs 78 lakh in connection with the clearing of bills worth Rs 174 crore for MEIL, which was charged with carrying out steel plant-related services.
According to the CBI, Megha Engineering was granted a Rs 315 crore contract to work on intake wells, a pump house, and a cross-country pipeline at Jagdalpur’s integrated steel factory. On August 10, 2023, the agency opened a preliminary inquiry on the bribery charges. On March 31, 2024, a regular case was filed in response to the inquiry’s conclusions.
The accused NISP and NMDC personnel include retired executive director Prashant Dash, director (production) D.K. Mohanty, DGM P.K. Bhuyan, DM Naresh Babu, senior manager Subro Banerjee, retired CGM (finance) L. Krishna Mohan, GM (finance) K. Rajshekhar, and manager (finance) Somnath Ghosh. These officers are said to have taken a bribe of Rs 73.85 lakh.
MECON’s AGM (contracts) Sanjeev Sahay and DGM (contracts) K. Illavarsu were identified in the FIR for allegedly accepting Rs 5.01 million in bribery relating to NMDC’s payments of Rs 174.41 crore to MEIL against 73 invoices.
The accused parties in the case include MEIL’s general manager, Subhash Chandra Sangras, and the firm itself.
MEIL has been a large buyer of electoral bonds, purchasing bonds worth Rs 966 crore and giving Rs 586 crore to the BJP, according to Election Commission statistics released on March 21, 2024. The corporation also gave Rs 195 crore to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Rs 85 crore to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and smaller sums to other political organisations.
The CBI’s investigation into this alleged bribery case is ongoing as it seeks to determine the full extent of the corruption and hold the responsible parties accountable.
