Pulses scam: Vigilance lodges FIR

He said the process was manipulated in favour of certain firms by the officers of the corporation,which would have caused a loss of approximately Rs 1 crore per month to the corporation.

The scam related to supply of pulses,including black urd,dal chana and black gram for which the corporation had placed orders to two Delhi-based firms,M/s Munish Kumar Mohint Kumar and Garg Dal and Roshan Mills.

Although more than a dozen firms had submitted bids to the corporation,the officials of the corporation devised a strategy to eliminate most of them by incorporating certain conditions which were not approved by the competent authority.

“As a result,the price of the items under the tenders increased by 35 to 40 per cent,” said an official.

However,the rival firms approached Food and Supplies Minister Ramesh Dhawala,who ordered cancellation of the tenders and invited fresh bids.

Ashok Kumar,a general manager,and Ram Lal,a procurement officer — two officers of the PSU which enjoys monopoly in the bulk purchases for the PDS supplies and also medicines for the government health institutions — have already been placed under suspension by Dhawala,who does not rule out the possibility of more heads rolling.

A departmental probe conducted earlier had confirmed serious irregularities in the tendering process.