The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has sought approval from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to prosecute some of the employees involved in the Pran Vayu Project scam during the Corona era. However, the High Court on Monday ordered the municipal administration to give this approval only after thorough consideration. So, it was clarified in the court on behalf of the BMC that the request of the police will be responded to soon.
The employees accused of involvement in the scam have petitioned the High Court through the Municipal Engineers Association and the Municipal Mazdoor Union and advocate Harshvardhan Suryavanshi. Also, until a departmental inquiry is conducted by the civic body, it has been demanded that the police should not be allowed to take any action against these employees.
It is alleged that during the Corona period, exemption was given to a certain company, which was allegedly disqualified, for constructing oxygen production plants in various hospitals and Corona centres. An investigation into this matter has been started by the Financial Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police. When the coalition government led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was in power, a case was registered for ignoring the rules in this regard by some municipal officials.
According to the petition, there was a huge demand for oxygen for patients during the Corona period. However, there was a huge shortage of it. Therefore, permission to construct the LNG plant was speedily granted. As a part of it, 59 projects of Mumbai were built. However, the petitioners have claimed that the employees who submitted the proposal are being held responsible and the senior officers who approved the proposal are far from action. The police requested the municipal administration to approve criminal action against these employees.
A hearing was held in this case on Monday. At that time, these employees worked in good faith during the Corona period. So, it should be considered. Moreover, senior advocate Anil Anturkar on behalf of the petitioners requested the court that the BMC should hear the side of these employees before taking any decision on the request of the police. However, it may not be advisable to listen to the employee every time. In fact, the court explained, it would be a misstep.
Meanwhile, no case has been registered on the complaint of the BMC. However, lawyer Joel Carlos told the court on behalf of the municipal corporation that the police had written to the municipal corporation in the month of April and demanded permission to take criminal action against these employees. Taking cognizance of this, the court said that before approving the action, a departmental inquiry was conducted, whether a decision was taken to approve, and if so, whether the action of the employees was in good faith or not, the court said.
On this, Carlos told the court that a departmental inquiry has a different meaning under the Municipal Act and action will be taken as per the law and the police request will be answered soon, Carlos told the court. Additional public prosecutor Prajakta Shinde told the court that only after the involvement of these employees was revealed, the sanction was sought for action against them.
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