Bombay High Court stays CBI probe against TCE over ₹800 crore JNPA scam
MUMBAI : The Bombay High Court on Tuesday stayed an investigation against Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE) in a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged ₹800 crore scam in the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority’s (JNPA) capital dredging project.
A Bench of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Rajesh Patil stayed the investigation after noting serious lapses in the search and seizure memo. The case pertained to a 2003 project meant to expand the navigational channel shared between JNPA and Mumbai Port to accommodate larger cargo vessels.
However, a first information report (FIR) lodged by the CBI alleged that key officials at JNPA and TCE were involved in a criminal conspiracy that led to significant financial losses during both phases of the project.
According to the CBI, overpayments of ₹365.90 crore in Phase I and ₹438 crore in Phase II were made on the basis of manipulated project data, including false over-dredging claims and tampered survey records.
Raids conducted at multiple premises in Mumbai and Chennai recovered technical documents, digital evidence and records of questionable investments allegedly linked to public officials involved in the project.
The Court was initially inclined to keep the matter for hearing after two weeks. However, it stayed the order after taking note of a glaring illegality.
The Court observed that the memo that documented the articles seized during the CBI’s search and seizure also disclosed the password to access the laptop of Devdut Bose, the then project manager of the TCE, in violation of the Information Technology Act.
“You cannot do it.. How can you publish the password of someone? This is contrary to the basis of the IT Act.. How can you do it? You have caused damage to someone … You (CBI) can’t publish someone else’s password in public no … N number of advocates have seen it … you have seen it. See Sections 3,4 of the IT Act. This is a very sensitive matter … This involves tampering. This in itself is mandatory grounds for discharge,” said Justice Gadkari.
The Court also suggested that the password could have been published with malafide intention in order to aid the competitors. The Court will next hear TCE’s petition seeking quashing of the FIR after two weeks.
Meanwhile, the CBI counsel has been asked to take instructions on the particulars of the FIR, including on whose information it was filed and the allegation that even the Attorney General for India and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust’s Board of Trustees had examined the issue and found no criminality in it.
Source : Bar & Bench