ACB closed case, gave clean chit; now CBI lodges FIR
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 25: The Finance Department of Jammu and Kashmir had pinpointed five serious irregularities committed in Health Insurance Scheme in 2017 in which the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) recently registered an FIR but the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the UT had surprisingly given clean chit saying no irregularity has been found out.
The CBI has named Reliance General Insurance and Trinity Re-Insurance Brokers Limited as accused in the FIR related in a controversial Health Insurance Scheme for Jammu and Kashmir Government employees reportedly cleared by then Governor Satya Pal Malik in the State Administrative Council (SAC) meeting on August 31, 2018.
The Codes Division of the Finance Department of Jammu and Kashmir in February this year pointed out five serious irregularities in the Health Insurance Scheme in its letter addressed to the Principal Secretary General Administration Department (GAD).
In its observations conveyed to the GAD, the Finance Department said e-tendering process was not followed while criteria for re-tender was changed after inadequate response to the first tender.
It further said that changes were made in the Agreement with the Intermediary M/s Trinity Re-Insurance Brokers Pvt Ltd after the agreement was signed.
“The contract was cancelled along with decision to continue same contract for a full quarter of which only one month had elapsed while first installment of premium was released on 28.09.2018 before signing of agreement on 15.10.2018,” the Finance Department document, a copy of which is in possession of the Excelsior, revealed.
Though the CBI has registered an FIR in the Health Insurance Scheme, a letter of Anti-Corruption Bureau signed by its Director Anand Jain said: “No irregularity has been found out in the case during the course of verification by the ACB”.
Jain has stated this in a letter addressed to the then Commissioner/Secretary General Administration Department.
The ACB Director’s observation has been made in the final verification report in Verification No. ACB-C-02/2018 related to Health Care Insurance Scheme for Government employees.
In another letter written by the ACB to the Principal Secretary GAD, the same observations were reiterated.
This letter was written by ACB’s AIG (Administration) Sandeep Wazir on behalf of Director ACB to the Principal Secretary GAD.
The letter stated: “The verification conducted in this Bureau with regard to the Health Care Insurance Scheme for Government employees stands closed as no irregularity was found in the matter”.
However, an Alert Note by the ACB said the Government of J&K may consider recovery of balance amount of Rs 44392618 pending with Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd as per the agreement clause of the contract.
In its FIR, the CBI said: “Unknown officials of Finance Department of Government of Jammu and Kashmir by abusing their official position in conspiracy and connivance with Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Ltd, Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd and other unknown public servants and private persons have committed the offences of criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct to cause pecuniary advantage to themselves and caused wrongful loss to the State exchequer during the period 2017 and 2018 and thereby in this manner cheated the Government of Jammu and Kashmir”.
It was alleged in different quarters that there were glaring deviations from the Government norms in the contract awarded to Reliance General Insurance like absence of an online tender, removal of an original condition that the vendor should have experience of working in the State and companies having turnover of Rs 5,000 crore among others.
“The case was registered on the request of Jammu and Kashmir Government on the allegations of malpractices in award of contract of J&K Employees Health Care Insurance Scheme to private company and release of Rs 60 crore (approximately) in the year 2017-18,” sources said.
After allegations of irregularities surfaced, the scheme, which was rolled out on September 30, 2018, was scrapped.
Satya Pal Malik, who was the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir between August 23, 2018 and October 30, 2019 had claimed that he was offered a Rs 300 crore bribe for clearing two files.
“After going to Kashmir, two files came to me (for clearance), one belonging to Ambani and another to an RSS-affiliated man who was a Minister in the previous Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP coalition Government and claimed to be very close to the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), he had said.
“I was informed by Secretaries in both the departments that there is a scandal and I accordingly cancelled both the deals. The Secretaries told me that ‘you will get Rs 150 crore each for clearing the files’ but I told them that I have come with five kurta-pyjamas and will leave with that only,” Malik had told a gathering at an event in Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan in October last year.
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