Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Stung by the allegations of serious irregularities in Commonwealth Games projects, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday asserted that her govt has not done “nothing wrong”.
"We have not done anything wrong. Everything was done keeping in mind the national interest and prestige. We were entrusted with certain responsibilities and we delivered them," she said.
The reaction came in the wake of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report on the Commonwealth Games (CWG) rapping her and the government for irregularities in awarding of CWG projects.
However, she said anybody found guilty of any wrongdoing will not be spared.
"We will not spare anybody found guilty of any wrongdoings," she said.
The CAG in its report on the CWG, leaked to the media, is believed to have identified how a contracting firm M/s Space Age Switchgear bidding for street lighting -- disqualified by the PWD -- was later re-inducted in the vendors’ list for street-lighting "irregularly" at the instructions of the Delhi Chief Minister.
The CAG also observed several instances of wasteful expenditure by the Delhi government and civic agencies amounting to the tune of over Rs 100 crores over street-scaping and an excess expenditure of Rs 31.07 crore on street lighting by MCD, NDMC and PWD.
The CAG report blames the Delhi government for the manner in which it went about its project for "Modernization of Delhi Street Lighting System", since the decision on use of imported lighting was taken with the express consent of the Chief Minister.
Delhi Chief Secretary Praveen K Tripathi, coming out in defence of Sheila Dikshit government said that it did not favour any particular firm and all “due procedures” were followed in awarding contracts.
"The Chief Minister never favoured any company to get contract. All due procedures were followed in awarding the contracts," Tripathi said.
"No irregularities were committed in purchasing of potted plants”, he added.
However, he did not rule out any wrongdoings by the company Space Age, which got part of the contract for installation of streetlights across the city.
“At no stage the Chief Minister gave approval for Space Age. Advisory board under the CM rejected the Space Age,” he said.
“Space Age was considered for the contract following a directive from the Delhi High Court,” Tripathi added.
The CAG’s indictment of Delhi Chief Minister came a day after it blamed the PMO for giving a long rope to IOA chief and CWG Organising Committee (OC) chief Suresh Kalmadi in spending crores of taxpayer’s money in the names of preparations for the sporting event.
The explosive CAG report, which is yet to be tabled in Parliament, has blamed the Congress government in Delhi for irregularities related to the Commonwealth Games held last year.
The CAG report slammed Chief Minister Sheila Dixit’s government for serious lapses and irregularities in the bidding process for procurement of different Games-related items and pointed out several instances of wasteful expenditure.
The CAG has also blamed the PMO for appointing Kalmadi as Organising Committee chairman of the CWG held in October.
The contents of the CAG report has triggered an angry reaction from the ruling side, which has sought to shift the blame on previous NDA regime for appointing Kalmadi and the entire CWG mess.
