 "US bribery case: Assam's former minister denies speculation")
Himanta Biswa Sarma, a Congress party MLA here who was a state cabinet minister in 2009-10, has strongly denied being the person named as having been the recipient of bribe from an American company.
A court in the US has seen an American company, Louis Berger, being charged with bribing at the time to get a water supply project in the state capital, Guwahati. At the time, Sarma had the additional portfolio of Guwahati development projects.
The New Jersey-based construction management firm has been charged with bribing Indian officials to win two water development projects, the other being in Goa. Two of its former executives, Richard Hirsch, 61, of the Philippines, and James McClung, 59, of the UAE, had pleaded guilty to the charges, according to a news agency story from Washington on Saturday.
Sarma, 46, a minister for several years, till the middle of last year, said he’d also gone through a copy of the chargesheet and found it clearly indicated the minister was from Goa.
“The chargesheet mentions nowhere of me taking or paying any bribe. Some official from Guwahati might have but I had not received any complaint till I demitted office in 2011,” he told this newspaper.
He said had any of the bidding firms complained, he would have taken action. He has asked the Assam government to institute an inquiry to unearth who the bribe taker was.
“There were around 10 parties in the bid but no one complained or wrote to me about wrongdoing, not even any anonymous letter. If any complaint came after I demitted office, I don’t know,” he said.
The 10 firms had bid for Project Management Consultancy to implement the south-central and north Guwahati water supply project, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
Bidding was done in October-November 2009 and finally a consortium of three — Louis Berger, Japanese firm Nihon Psuido and Shah Technical Consultants of India — were awarded the contract in February 2010, said Amit Sahai, managing director of Guwahati Jal Board. The project was 41 per cent done, he said. Completion is expected by February 2017. The total contract with the three entities was of Rs 86.6 crore.
When asked if the US case would affect the project, a senior official from Guwahati Municipal Development Authority said this would be for Jica to finally decide. “Everything from day one was Jica-controlled. Now, if need be, let Jica take the call,” he said.
Sarma was a minister in the first term (2006-11) of the Tarun Gogoi government. He was health minister and also, as mentioned, had charge of Guwahati Development. The chief minister is now in charge of the department. His office said: “If CM has anything to say regarding this issue, he would come out with a statement.”
A court in the US has seen an American company, Louis Berger, being charged with bribing at the time to get a water supply project in the state capital, Guwahati. At the time, Sarma had the additional portfolio of Guwahati development projects.
The New Jersey-based construction management firm has been charged with bribing Indian officials to win two water development projects, the other being in Goa. Two of its former executives, Richard Hirsch, 61, of the Philippines, and James McClung, 59, of the UAE, had pleaded guilty to the charges, according to a news agency story from Washington on Saturday.
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The chargesheet filed in a district court (a copy of which Business Standard could access) mentions that Berger paid bribes to “a minister” and to officials for both the contracts.
Sarma, 46, a minister for several years, till the middle of last year, said he’d also gone through a copy of the chargesheet and found it clearly indicated the minister was from Goa.
“The chargesheet mentions nowhere of me taking or paying any bribe. Some official from Guwahati might have but I had not received any complaint till I demitted office in 2011,” he told this newspaper.
He said had any of the bidding firms complained, he would have taken action. He has asked the Assam government to institute an inquiry to unearth who the bribe taker was.
“There were around 10 parties in the bid but no one complained or wrote to me about wrongdoing, not even any anonymous letter. If any complaint came after I demitted office, I don’t know,” he said.
The 10 firms had bid for Project Management Consultancy to implement the south-central and north Guwahati water supply project, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
Bidding was done in October-November 2009 and finally a consortium of three — Louis Berger, Japanese firm Nihon Psuido and Shah Technical Consultants of India — were awarded the contract in February 2010, said Amit Sahai, managing director of Guwahati Jal Board. The project was 41 per cent done, he said. Completion is expected by February 2017. The total contract with the three entities was of Rs 86.6 crore.
When asked if the US case would affect the project, a senior official from Guwahati Municipal Development Authority said this would be for Jica to finally decide. “Everything from day one was Jica-controlled. Now, if need be, let Jica take the call,” he said.
Sarma was a minister in the first term (2006-11) of the Tarun Gogoi government. He was health minister and also, as mentioned, had charge of Guwahati Development. The chief minister is now in charge of the department. His office said: “If CM has anything to say regarding this issue, he would come out with a statement.”