Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar used his position to enable "lucrative collaboration" in favour of his son's company, according to a new report.
The report follows an earlier report that had alleged wrongdoings on part of Kumar in a land acquisition matter.
In the latest report, Delhi Vigilance Minister Atishi has alleged that Kumar used his position to enable a "lucrative collaboration" between the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) and a company in which his son was a partner, government sources told PTI on Friday. It is alleged that a contract was given to Kumar's son's company without proper tender.
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Atishi in the report also recommended the suspension of Kumar and an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into his alleged corrupt dealings.
While there was no immediate response from Kumar, ILBS in a statement denied the "allegation" of award of any purchase order or payment to any software vendor for artificial intelligence (AI), reported PTI. The agency further reported sources close to Kumar as claiming that his son is not a signatory of any memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the company and the ILBS.
"He is not at all connected with the company in question as a shareholder or director or partner or employee," said sources to PTI.
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The company was formed just 20 days after Kumar's appointment Delhi's Chief Secretary on April 20, 2022, reporting PTI, citing the "supplementary report" submitted to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by Atishi. This 18-page report follows an earlier report over alleged corruption by Kumar in a land acquisition matter in southwest Delhi's Bamnoli village.
The matter concerns the setting up of a lab at ILBS. The report alleges that the contract was granted to Kumar's son's company without competitive bidding under Kumar's watch.
Kumar as chief secretary also served as chairman of the ILBS governing council which and decided to set up a virtual or augmented reality lab at the institute, reporting PTI by citing Atishi's report, adding that a MoU between the company of Kumar's son with ILBS was then executed on January 24, 2023.
The report claimed that the company was "chosen on nomination basis without any competitive bidding process and without any due diligence of the competence or experience in healthcare sector or virtual reality", reported PTI.
While Atishi's report did not provide the exact nature of any irregularity, it claimed "the MoU also provides a huge scope for profiteering to the company by providing it with joint intellectual property rights for any IP developed through this project and 50 per cent share of profits by both parties for any future commercialisation of work arising out of this collaboration", reported PTI.
"Prima facie it appears that Naresh Kumar has acted in violation of All India Services Conduct Rules and has used his position to enable a lucrative collaboration for his son's company at a loss to the public exchequer," the report alleged, as per PTI.
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The earlier report, which ran into 670 pages, alleged "prima facie complicity" of Kumar in a land acquisition matter and claimed that it would have involved a windfall gain of Rs 897 crore for stakeholders, reported PTI.
Kumar in a statement had questioned "on what basis such allegations are made specially when the chief secretary has joined only last year that is 2022. Copy of the report is not shared. So on what basis one can respond or report", according to the report.
