Delhi court accepts ED closure report in the 2010 CWG ‘scam’ case against Suresh Kalmadi

Bringing down curtains on a 13 year old case, a Delhi court on Monday accepted the Enforcement Directorate’s closure report in a money laundering case against Suresh Kalmadi, the former head of the organising committee of 2010 Commonwealth Games and then secretary general Lalit Bhanot and others. The acceptance of the closure report brings to end the money laundering angle in the alleged scam, which took place 15 years ago. The allegations of corruption in conducting the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) triggered a huge political uproar in the country, leading to filing of several criminal and money laundering cases, including the present one. Kalmadi and others were accused of misconduct in award and execution of two important contracts for the games.

Special judge Sanjeev Aggarwal noted the CBI had already closed the corruption case, based on which the ED started its money laundering probe and accepted the report, which also named CWG OC’s then COO, Vijay Kumar Gautam, its then treasurer, A K Matto, Event Knowledge Service (EKS), Switzerland, and CEO, Craig Gordon MeLatchey. The judge noted ED’s submission that the offence of money laundering was not found during its investigation.

“Since during the investigations, the prosecution has failed to make out a offence under section 3 (money laundering) of the PMLA… as no offence under section 3 of the PMLA has been made out or has been committed, despite discreet investigations by the ED, therefore, there is no reason to continue with the present ECIR, as a consequence, the closure report filed by the ED stands accepted“, the judge held.

The sole money laundering investigation was initiated by the ED based on the case lodged by the CBI. According to the CBI, the works contracts related to Commonwealth Games were Games Workforce Service (GWS) and Games Planning, Project & Risk Management Services (GPPRMS). An undue pecuniary gain was caused by the accused persons to the to the consortium of EKS and Ernst and Young, by way of awarding the two contracts in a deliberate and wrongful manner and caused corresponding loss of Rs 30 crore to OC, CWG, the CBI alleged. The CBI later filed a closure report in January 2014, saying “no incriminating evidence surfaced during the investigation in the matter” and the allegations in the FIR could not be substantiated against the accused persons.

Immediately thereafter the Indian National Congress on Monday has launched a scathing attack on the BJP Government, stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal must apologise to the people of India for misleading the country. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said before 2014, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Kejriwal and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had come together to “fabricate scams” like 2G and Commonwealth Games (CWG) to defame his party. “Two very honest and dedicated leaders — Dr Manmohan Singh and Mrs Sheila Dixit — were falsely accused“, he said in a post in Hindi on X.

The truth of 2G had already come out in court and on Monday, the court accepted the ED’s closure report in the CWG case as well, Ramesh said. “It is clear — both the allegations were false! Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal must apologise to the Congress and the people of India for misleading the country. Satyameva Jayate!” he said.

The allegations of corruption in conducting the 2010 CWG triggered a huge political uproar in the country, leading to several criminal and money-laundering cases, including the present one, being filed. Suresh Kalmadi and others were accused of misconduct in the award and execution of two important contracts for the games.

Team Maverick