Namna metro flayed for style of functioning
Legislature Committee recommends legal action against Bangalore Metro for incurring losses.
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2013-11-30 12:10 GMT
Belgaum: Stating that the BMRCL Executive Director (Finance) was working like a private company and taking unilateral decisions at will, the Legislature Committee for Public Sector Units has recommended legal action against Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) officials, who are responsible for the company incurring losses. BMRCL is involved in executing the Namma Metro rail project in Bengaluru city and has completed one part of the project from Bypanahalli to MG Road.
The Committee headed by former Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar submitted its report in the House on Friday, where it pointed out that the intervention of ‘outsiders’ in BMRCL affairs was glaring and there was a need for a detailed inquiry into the issue.
Naming Executive Director (Finance) Sandeep Das for the anomaly in investing Rs 30 crore in a private company during 2005-06, resulting in a loss of over Rs 3.1 crore to the company, the committee turned down the explanation of the company that it reposed faith in the official. “The official responsibility and faith were two different things,'' it pointed out.
Though Board of Public Enterprises guidelines ban investing public funds in equity funds, the Executive Director had violated the norms. There was a glaring evidence of a middleman in making these investments. This is a multi-crore deal and the company should have filed a criminal case against the officer, who invested public money through a middleman, the report submitted by the House panel said.
The BMRCL also had no explanation for paying Rs 1.58 crore commission to the middleman, which was against the rules, the committee report added.