Mail News Service
New Delhi, June 30 : The Central Bureau of Investigation has today filed a charge sheet against the then Chairman; the then Member; the then Secretary, all of Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) and a New Mumbai based private International Container Firm U/s 120-B of IPC and 13(2) r/w 13(1) (d) of PC Act, 1988 in the court of Special Judge for CBI cases, Mumbai.
The investigation was taken up in December 2010 after registering a case against the then Chairman and Members, all of TAMP (Tariff Authority for Major Ports) under the Ministry of Shipping and others for showing favour to a private International Container terminal of Nava Sheva, New Mumbai
on the allegations of delaying the Tariff review for a period of five years from 2000 to 2005 & allowing the said private firm to accumulate huge profits by way of tariff collection from port users on old rates & increased traffic inflow; allowing the said firm to retain 50% of the surplus accumulated for the period 2000 to 2005 which was Rs.472 crores(approx) in the tariff order of July 2005 by retrospective application of the tariff guidelines issued by the Ministry of Shipping on 31st March, 2005 and allowing the entire royalty running around Rs. 116 crores(approx) as a cost item for the period 2000 to 2005 in the July 2005 tariff order without looking into if the operator was making a profit or was running in loss & also not following the guidelines of Ministry of Shipping.
The said firm was also allowed to retain an amount of Rs.236 crores(approx) which was collected from the port users in an illegal manner & also gained a benefit of Rs. 116 crores(approx) by treating royalty as a cost item and recovering the same from the port users for the period 2000 to 2005.
The investigation revealed the involvement of the then Chairman and other officials of TAMP for showing favour to said firm in terms of treatment of surplus and royalty. By the actions of TAMP, the said firm stood to again Rs. 236 crores(approx) in the surplus adjusted & another Rs. 236 crores(approx) as an interest free resource for a period of five years and also the entire royalty paid to landlord port as an item of cost totalling to Rs.116 crores (approx). It was also revealed that the said firm further got an additional benefit of Rs.265 crores (approx) due to the incorrect computation of surplus by the officials of TAMP for this period.
After thorough investigation, CBI filed a charge sheet.
The public is reminded that the above findings are based on the investigation done by CBI and evidence collected by it. Under the Indian Law, the accused are presumed to be innocent till their guilt is finally established after a fair trial.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/cbi-files-chargesheet-2/
