Kalmadi offers to face inquiry about CWG corruption allegations

File photo of President of Indian Olympic Association Suresh Kalmadi.

Mr Suresh Kalmadi, the beleaguered Chairman of the Organising Committee (OC) of the XIX Commonwealth Games that Delhi is slated to host from October 3-14 who is battling a series of corruption allegations, today said he was prepared to face any kind of inquiry into the charges.

"I, as Chairman of the Organising Committee, am prepared to face any scrutiny by CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) or even a judicial probe for all financial transactions being reported by the media. And all those found guilty will be brought to book," he said in a statement issued here.

He said 60 days were left for the start of the Games and 43 days for the Games Village to open, when about 8000 athletes and officials from all over the world would start arriving to participate in the Games.

Mr Kalmadi said he had taken serious note of the media reports in recent days regarding alleged irregularities in the payments made by the OC for services provided to it by a firm in London for the launch function of the Queen's Baton Relay, for overlays and for the payments made to a sports marketing firm in Melbourne.

He said he had already appointed a three-member committee to to look into the details of all these allegations and asked it to submit its report by tomorrow.

Mr Kalmadi said the financial procedures at OC were well-laid down and transparent. "Any proposal that is prepared by the Functional Area Head first gets vetted by the OC Finance Committee which has two representatives of Government of India, and after that it is referred to Finance Sub-Committee, comprising three senior representatives of Government of India. Thereafter, the proposals are submitted to the Executive Board for its final approval. Chairman OC, in his individual capacity does not have any financial powers," he explained.

Separately, the OC today described as exaggerated media reports about procurement of items such as treadmills, umbrellas and tissue paper. They also said no payment had been made so far to the Australian firm for bring in sponsors for the Games.

At a press conference, OC Secretary General Lalit Bhanot gave details about the expenditure on overlays and denied all allegations of inflated quotations and payments. He said there were several government officials on the committees that vetted and cleared all the proposals.

At the centre of the allegations against the OC is a payment of about 2,50,000 pounds made by it to A.M. Films, a United Kingdom-based company, for services rendered by it during the Queen's Baton Relay in London on October 29, 2009.

The company is being probed by authorities in the UK for inadequate paperwork related to the payment, for which it had claimed a VAT refund. As a series of media reports raised suspicion about corruption in the deal, Mr Kalmadi had said that the firm had been recommended to it by the Indian High Commission in London.

At a press conference here some days ago, Mr Kalmadi had also produced e-mails from an employee of the mission to substantiate his case.

Today, Mr Kalmadi met External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who apparently told him that the e-mail produced by him was not genuine and was probably doctored. This is what forced Mr Kalmadi to order the inquiry.

The Indian mission in London had denied that it had recommended the company to the OC and that the e-mail produced by Mr Kalmadi was from a person who was very junior and was not authorised to make such recommendations.

The committee appointed by Mr Kalmadi will look into the payment to AM Films for hire of cars, portable toilets, video cameras, video screens and other facilities as well as the High Commission's contention that the letter sent by its employee was not genuine.

NNN