CBI indicts Jose Cherian for violation of tendering procedures ; HYC demands action from NEHU VC

Staff Reporter

Shillong, Dec 1: The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) has demanded that NEHU Vice Chancellor PS Shukla initiates action against the executive engineer Jose Cherian, who was indicted by the CBI for gross violation of tendering procedures.

In a statement, HYC education secretary Enlang Sawian said, “(We) demand that the original note sheet be sent for immediate Forensic examination and order thorough probe against Jose Cherian, as the issue pointed out is just a tip of ice berg. During the pendency of such a probe, he should not be allowed to hold any position in the office, as he likely to temper more files and intimidate his junior officers. Further Vice Chancellor should initiate action against this officer as per the resolutions already taken by University’s Executive Council.”

He said even after CBI indicted Jose Cherian Executive Engineer on account of gross violation of procedures related to tendering, the Executive Engineer has been allowed to continue in his post by Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla, the beleaguered Vice Chancellor of NEHU.

“In complete disregard to CBI finding that Jose Cherian has caused substantial financial loss to the University, the Vice Chancellor seemingly remains unmoved to follow the decision of the University in initiating action decided by the Executive Council of the University,” he said.

Sawian said the Executive Council after going through CBI inquiry report which directed the University to impose a major penalty to Jose Cherian and also, the separate University level inquiry committee’s report finding him guilty of causing financial loss to the tune of Rs 10.00 Lakhs was accepted by the Executive Council headed by Prof PS Shukla himself, but till date, the decision of the Council to serve him chargesheet and then keep him out of office till charges are finally adjudicated hasn’t not been implemented by the Vice-Chancellor.

“Taking full opportunity of the failure of Vice Chancellor Jose Cherian continued in the office and his very presence has resulted into a much graver tempering of official documents related to construction works,” he said adding “In the event of multiple L1 bidders the choice of the awardee in many instances had not been so far based on any objective, scientific and statutorily valid criterion. The Executive Engineer acted in a prejudicial manner to grant of the award of work to some preferred tenderees by violating extant government norms. It is instructive to note that in a particular case the then Registrar J.N. Nayak wanted to know from the Executive Engineer whether award of work is based on grading/award of marks of their performance or it is based on some other criterion.”

The HYC leader further said that the Executive Engineer in response to this query of the Registrar indicated that performance grading was done in the case of a work namely, “ Replacement of damaged CGI sheet and roof painting in Quarter no P/32,33 and 35 to 58.”

“It can be seen from the note by Jose Cherian that he claimed to have followed CPWD manual, records also show that objective marks were awarded on the past performance of tenderees to select first among the equals, as all the tenderers had quoted same least amount for the work. The practice of award of marks and grades becomes mandatory in such cases; but Jose Cherian refused to follow the same after showing the pretence of following it in just one case,” he said while adding “After this particular work was awarded as per marking/grading, due to some mysterious reasons best known to Jose Cherian, he had actually stopped this practice and resorted to arbitrary award of works. In effect he exercised undefined arbitrary power in selecting to whom to award a work and thereby denied opportunity to other deserving tenderees, when all the applicants have quoted same lowest value.”

He alleged that among multiple L1 tenderees quoting the same value, which itself is otherwise suspect showing an invisible cartel formation quoting the same lowest value.

Further choosing someone for a certain work without any objective garding is a serious statutory violation of all central government statutes and rules of the University.

It is very interesting to note that the file wherein Cherian mentioned his following of the CPWD manual now stands tampered by Cherian as he has applied white ink on his earlier note giving an impression as if no regulation existed to select First among the lowest equal bidders.

It is pertinent to mention that usage of white ink is strictly prohibited on notes of file, as per government orders and rules in force.

“Had the Vice Chancellor acted in time and removed this officer from the chair as he was indicted by CBI as well as internal inquiry of the University, concerned vested interests who now want to hide their gross misdeed by white ink tampering wouldn’t get such an opportunity to commit such a forgery in the official file. The forgery gets cleared when one compares the original note sheet with the tempered note sheet,” he added.

George flags danger of wrong call on reservation policy

State vice president of the opposition All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and former Umroi legislator George Lyngdoh has warned that any wrong step taken in regards to the state reservation policy would bring misunderstanding among the three major tribes – Khasi, Jaintia and Garo.

Lyngdoh said the state reservation policy is a very sensitive issue considering the fact that it relates to the aspirations and the future of the youth.

“Therefore, any wrong step in this direction being a sensitive matter would bring a different kind of emotions and misunderstanding that would be detrimental to the long historic bond and understanding between the various communities in the state, the major tribes,” he said.

“Therefore, the policymakers and the leaders have to take into consideration, the sentiments, emotions and historic aspects as well as also the need to maintain the communal peace and harmony amongst the three tribes. It should not come with any kind of thing that would only disrupt peace and harmony at the cost of the future of the youth. Any policy has to bring harmony and also equity,” the ex-MLA added.

On the implementation of the roster system, Lyngdoh questioned the state government’s decision to implement the roster system with a retrospective effect.

According to him, the court’s ruling was unclear and the order of the court has to be interpreted by the state government and in its interpretation, the state government took decision with a retrospective effect.

He said that the state government has to make the people understand why in the first place a retrospective effect was taken into consideration and not a prospective one.

When asked the court had clearly stated that these are policy matters best left to the legislature and the executive, the AITC leader said, “So the question is whether the state government hurriedly rush into the implementation of the roster without understanding the full implication of the court order. So whether that urgency was actually needed before the full understanding of the court order was actually imbibed by the policymakers and both at the executive level and also at the legislative level. So whether this actual understanding of the court order was actually discussed so whether it was left to one or two to decide with a retrospective effect.”

He alleged that some of the cabinet ministers do not even understand what a roster system is and said, “What I could hear from the discussion is that even some of the policymakers, some of the ministers being in the cabinet also could not understand what a roster system is. So now they have put themselves in a spot where now they not only have to understand the roster system, they also have to understand the retrospective and prospective effect.”

On the Voice of the People Party (VPP)’s demand review of the entire policy, Lyngdoh said if any policy is in question considering both their political aspiration and also taking the aspirations of the citizens, especially the youth into consideration, they should also come with a suggestion as to what they want adding that anybody can question a policy that is in place but the fact is it is upon the responsible leaders to suggest to what should be the next step forward.

“I would say that various political parties should come up with their own suggestions as well so that it is the collective responsibility of each and every political party and leader and in fact every citizen of the state if any policy is being questioned then we should also come with solutions as to how we will finally decide on a new policy or try to change an existing policy but at the same time maintain communal harmony and equity,” he added.

Further, Lyngdoh said for any policy matter, there will be a group that will be supporting that particular policy and there will be a group that will be opposing that particular policy.

“Therefore, if amendments have to be made to a particular policy, they have to take into consideration the aspirations as well as the current situation prevailing in the state,” he asserted.

According to him, the Constitution of the country has been amended hundreds of times because it need to take the aspirations of the people considering the historic meets where and also take futuristic requirements. Therefore amendments have to be made.

Mercury rises to nearly 40 degrees C in NE

People in several states across the northeastern region have been experiencing a change in weather with the mercury hovering around 40 degrees Celsius in many places, Met officials said on Friday.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials in Guwahati and Agartala said that maximum temperatures in many places have been varying between 36 to 40 degrees Celsius, which is 5-6 notches above average for this time of the season.

The weather officials also noted that the minimum temperature in many places hovered between 20 to 23 degrees Celsius — 2-3 notches above the season’s average.

The Met officials said that the maximum temperatures are likely to remain the same for the next 4-5 days.

An IMD bulletin said that light rain is likely to occur in some places in Arunachal Pradesh while the weather is likely to remain dry in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.

As there has been no rainfall for the past few weeks, a water crisis gripped many parts of the northeast, especially in hilly and remote areas.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the IMD have issued various advisories for farmers and various agri farms to deal with their seasonal crops.

Health authorities also issued advisories asking people to stay guarded against rising temperatures.

(IANS)

Meghalaya among 9 states to withdraw general consent to CBI

As many as nine states, including Telangana and Meghalaya, have withdrawn the general consent given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for probing certain offences.

The information was disclosed by Union Minister Jitendra Singh during the winter session of the Parliament in December 2022.

The minister informed the House that as per Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, the CBI requires the consent of the respective state governments to conduct investigations in their jurisdiction.

The state governments had granted general consent to the CBI for the investigation of a specified class of offences against specified categories of persons, enabling the agency to register and investigate those specified matters, Singh elaborated. However, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, and West Bengal have withdrawn the general consent to the CBI to investigate cases. This move could potentially create roadblocks for the CBI to investigate cases in these states.

Non-BJP-ruled states have accused the CBI of “selectively targeting” Opposition leaders.

The withdrawal of consent could also affect the CBI’s ability to investigate cases that have national significance or interstate ramifications. It remains to be seen how the CBI will navigate these challenges and continue to discharge its duties effectively.

This development highlights the need for a comprehensive review of the DSPE Act, 1946, and its provisions related to the CBI’s jurisdiction and powers.

In March this year, a Parliamentary Committee emphasised the withdrawal of general consent for the CBI probe by several states and stated that the existing law governing the federal probe agency has “several limitations”.

The committee has suggested the need to enact new legislation that defines the CBI’s status, functions, and powers.

“The Committee feels that the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act has many limitations and therefore, recommends that there is a need to enact a new law and define the status, functions and powers of the CBI and also lay down safeguards to ensure objectivity and impartiality in its functioning,” it said.

Rudra Vikram Singh, Supreme Court lawyer said that withdrawal of general consent means CBI does not have the general consent of a state government, it is required to apply for consent on a case-by-case basis and cannot act before the consent is given.

“However CBI can continue to investigate cases in a state registered prior to the withdrawal of general consent. In July 2022, the Calcutta High Court, in a case of illegal coal mining and cattle smuggling being investigated by the CBI, ruled that the central agency cannot be stopped from investigating a Central government employee in another state,” said Singh.

“In its order, the High Court observed that corruption cases across the country must be treated equally and that Central government employees could not be exempted from an investigation on the grounds that their offices were located in states that have withdrawn general consent. The judgment also said that withdrawal of general consent and its ramifications would be applicable in cases where exclusively state government employees were involved,” he added.

This order, however, has been challenged in the Supreme Court, where the matter is still pending. Hence, as it stands, the CBI can use the Calcutta High Court order to its advantage to carry on certain investigations until the order is struck down by the Supreme Court.

Gurmeet Nehra, legal scholar and member of the Supreme Court Bar Association said that CBI can approach the local court of that state for issuing a search warrant and it can register a case in Delhi and proceed with the investigation.