In what must come as a relief to Maharashtra Women and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde, the Anti-Corruption Bureau has given her a clean chit in the ‘chikki’ case pertaining to alleged irregularities in awarding contracts for materials worth Rs 206 crore for school children.
"The ACB has closed the case. There was nothing to substantiate allegations against her," an ACB official said on Wednesday.
The official added that the ACB’s Additional CP Keshav Patil had, in a letter to MPCC spokesperson Sachin Sawant, informed the Congress leader that no “truth” was found in the allegations against Munde.
Sawant had lodged a complaint last year with the ACB, demanding an inquiry into the allegations against Munde and submitted a file of documents purportedly supporting the charges.
The minister was accused of flouting procedures in awarding contracts for supplying items like ‘chikki’ (sweetmeat made with nuts and jaggery), mats, notebooks, water filters, etc, for school children.
Munde had earlier rubbished the charges and said she was prepared for any inquiry.
This is a scam of words. The allegations against me are politically motivated.Pankaja Munde
The earlier Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra had purchased similar items at a cost of Rs 408 crore, she said.
You term that a ‘purchase’ and call our procurement a ‘scam’.
Claiming that the items were purchased at a higher price by the previous government, Munde said the charges against her were totally baseless.
Munde had accused the opposition of pinning the scam on to a BJP minister and said there was nothing wrong in the purchases made through the rate contract system.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has a habit of giving clean chits and he has said that prima facie, he did not find anything wrong. Thus, we submitted all the documents we had as evidence to the ACB.Sachin Sawant
(With inputs from PTI)
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