RTI activist files complaint against JM Baxi company, SCI officials

RTI activist Asad Patel has filed a complaint against the officials of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and JM Baxi and Company, which is one of the biggest firms in the shipping services sector. The complaint was sent to the Shipping Corporation's Director of Grievances on November 11, accusing the SCI of misappropriation of money and lack of transparency in its conduct.

According to the complaint, JM Bakshi Company has been providing its services to more than 20 ports of SCI in India for the last several years. The SCI has been taking service of this company since 1961, flouting several norms.

In the year 1999, the corporation had appointed the company as its agent without following any procedure. The complaint also claimed that the SCI officials made several advance payments to JM Bakshi Company without receiving the bills, and continued to pay the company despite settling the account for many years.

Not only this, the complaint sent to the Vigilance Department and the Ministry of Shipping also claimed that the JM Bakshi accepted several bills without audit scrutiny, causing immense loss to the corporation.

The complainant has termed the case as a criminal conspiracy hatched by the company in collusion with the officials of Shipping Corporation of India.

JM Bakshi and Company has dismissed all the allegations. Through an email message, JM Rajnish Khandelwal, Senior Vice President, Bakshi Company, clarified, "there is no basis for this complaint. All the points mentioned in the claim are just untrue".

Zee Media, however, did not receive any official response from the Shipping Corporation of India in this matter.