Agencies/New Delhi
 |
|
Former Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi leaves the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters for Patiala House Court in New Delhi yesterday |
Suresh Kalmadi will be moved from police cells to spend 14 days in New Delhi’s Tihar prison, which already houses several administrators of the 2010 Games as they await trial.
Special Judge Dharmesh Sharma of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court allowed the agency’s appeal to send Kalmadi to jail. The court also sent two aides to judicial custody.
“The court has ordered judicial custody for Kalmadi, and his aides A S V Prasad and Surjeet Lal till May 18 in connection with alleged irregularities in the contracts awarded for the 2010 mega event,” an official from the Special Court said.
Kalmadi, a senior figure in the ruling Congress Party, faces charges for his role in awarding a $31mn contract for timekeeping equipment to a Swiss firm.
Investigators allege the deal was inflated by some $21mn. Swiss Timing has denied any wrongdoing.
Kalmadi was arrested by police last month and is accused of “wrongfully restricting and eliminating competition” from the contract.
The Games were meant to showcase India’s status as an emerging global power, but were hit by venue delays, shoddy construction and massive budget overruns.
Late last month, the Indian Olympic Association removed Kalmadi as its president.
Kalmadi and the others have protested their innocence.
Kalmadi was dismissed in January as head of the Games Organising Committee as police probed charges that organisers had manipulated tenders.
India’s anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Vigilance Commission, received complaints alleging up to $1.8bn of Games money was misused.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government, buffeted by a string of scandals, has faced loud calls to show it intends to crack down on corruption, which has undermined the administration’s popularity and sparked nationwide protests.