Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Monday approached the Kerala High Court seeking a court-monitored inquiry into the implementation of the project for Automated Traffic Enforcement System for Safe Kerala.
In a petition, they pointed out that out of the four companies that participated in the tender, Akshara Enterprises, Ashoka Buildcon, and SRIT Private Limited were qualified in the technical and financial bid evaluation. The contract was awarded to SRIT, which then sub-leased it to its consortium. SRIT did not have any technical expertise in the field and was just an empty shell for politicians and their family members who pulled the strings behind the entire project and were its actual benefactors, they said. As per the minimum eligibility criteria in the tender, the first condition was that the bidder shall be a single bidder or consortium. SRIT had taken part in the tender as a single company and not as a consortium. It was only on the day when it received a Letter of Intent (LOI) that SRIT created a consortium of companies with itself as the lead company and Presadio Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and Al Hind Tours and Travels Pvt. Ltd as partners. In fact, the LoI was issued to SRIT and not to the consortium of companies formed by it on a later date. Therefore, by creating a consortium after securing the tender and after issuance of LOI, SRIT and KELTRON had committed fraud on the face of it.
An enquiry into the affairs of SRIT will show that the said company is remotely controlled by persons close to the corridors of power. In fact, SRIT had no past or present experience in automated traffic enforcement system. The objections by the Finance department and the Chief Technical Officer (CTE) were steamrolled to ensure that KELTRON got the work order, which in turn ensured that SRIT got the tender, they said.
They alleged that the award of the contract and the manner in which the files have been moved would show the cartel formation to favour the SRIT and Presadio Technologies Pvt Ltd, Kozhikode to siphon off the public funds.
The investigating agency in the State is under the command and control of persons who are the beneficiaries of the transaction. Since corruption was committed at the top echelons of power, the State police is not equipped to conduct a thorough probe in the matter. The Central agencies, which would have been a natural choice, has demonstrated that they will not take any investigation on a route that will harm the State government. Therefore, a court-monitored enquiry is required to unveil the truth the petitioners submitted.
