An Internal Revenue System officer,once part of the Commonwealth Games Organising committee (OC) has told a court that chief Suresh Kalmadi was angry with him because he was against the times and scoring contract going to the Swiss firm by ignoring another firm,MSL Spain. Virendra Kumar Saksena,then member of the Organising Committee to evaluate the prequalification bids relating to the contract TSR recorded his statement with CBI as a witness and said Kalmadi was angry with him for circulating his dissenting opinion in the award of the contract. A 1984 batch IRS officer,now working as the Joint Director General (Sponsorship),has also alleged that the then Director General V K Verma had threatened him with a CBI inquiry if he took a contrary view against their decision to award the contract to Swiss Timing. Saksena said both bidders - Swiss Timing and MSL Spain - could have qualified for the next stage. He told the agency that Kalmadi had conveyed to all members of the committee to select Swiss Timing ahead of MSL Spain for the TSR system contract. Two bids were received for TSR contract from Swiss Timing and MSL Spain and the same were opened on November 4,2009,he had testified before the agency. Subsequently,Suresh Kalmadi called a meeting in his room which was also attended by V K Verma and all members of the tender evaluation committee. During the meeting,Kalmadi conveyed the message that we have to select Swiss Timing for the TSR system. During the meeting,V K Verma had said he was sure that the committee members know how this can be done, he stated. Saksena also said when difference of opinion cropped up,Verma tried to convince him that the whole spirit of the request for proposal (RFP) was that the vendor should have delivered the TSR contract earlier in one specified Games. However,when he argued that at the prequalification stage,only five laid down prequalifying criterion should be looked at,Verma pointed out that if I take a contrary view to his suggestions there might be a CBI inquiry against me. To forestall the pressure to select Swiss Timing,Saksena circulated his own comments on the TSR prequalification bid. Sujit Panigrahi (ADG,Technology),the lone technology expert on the committee,was also of the view that both Swiss Timing and MSL Spain qualified for the next stage,the statement said. Saksena was summoned by Kalmadi for circulating his own comments on the TSR prequalification bid,it said. After I circulated my views,Suresh Kalmadi summoned me. He was very annoyed and angry and expressed his displeasure by saying: 'we know how to get it corrected.' I apologised to him for not having been able to meet his expectations, Saksena said in his statement. The Spanish firm had quoted a price less than the Swiss firm's rate but was disqualified in the prequalification stage in an allegedly irregular manner even as its experience included having provided TSR services for the 2010 Asian Games at Guangzhou in China. Kalmadi and Verma are now in judicial custody in connection with the TSR scam.
