CWG scam: ED files first chargesheet against Kalmadi

Zeenews Sports Bureau

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday filed the first chargesheet in CWG Queens Baton Relay case, naming sacked OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi. The former CWG OC chief Kalmadi was given bail by the Delhi High Court Jan 19 along with his aide VK Verma. Former OC secretary general Lalit Bhanot and former treasurer M Jayachandran were granted bail two days later by the trial court. The complaint (equivalent of a charge sheet) was filed by the agency to its adjudicating authority here and alleges foreign exchange contraventions to the tune of about Rs 5 crore in the conduct of the Queens Baton Relay (QBR) held in 2009 in London. The glitzy event was attended by President Pratibha Patil, Queen Elizabeth II and a host of top Indian athletes and Organising Committee (OC) officials. The ED also named five OC officials apart from Kalmadi in its complaint -- former secretary general Lalit Bhanot, director general V K Verma, deputy director general Sanjay Mahindroo, joint director general (accounts and finance) M Jaychandran and A K Mattoo. Kalmadi, according to agency's complaint, was named for providing his signatures in his "individual capacity" and allowing "unauthorised payments" of more than Rs 8 crore and few others for the conduct of the QBR and also side-stepping five other service providers in favour of a firm -- AM Films and Cars limited. The ED complaint also mentions how the OC violated its own charter for the event and hired luxury vehicles like Mercedes S-class, BMW-7 series thereby violating the authorisation for hiring only "mid-size" cars for ferrying guests, athletes and other dignitaries.