A Jaipur based power infrastructure company – Genus Power Infrastructures Limited (GPIL)– is under scanner of Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the corruption charges against Bihar cadre high profile IAS Sanjeev Hans.
The ED, on 18 October this year, arrested Sanjeev Hans and 10 of his associates on charges of corruption and money laundering.
According to the chargesheet of ED, Hans has been accused of channelising bribes of Rs 60 crore from GPIL, which has signed a Rs 3,300 crore contract with Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited when Sanjeev Hans was the chairman and managing director of the state utility.
The BuckStopper tried to contact GPIL chairman IC Agarwal and joint managing director Jitendra Agarwal for their version. Repeated calls, text messages and WhatsApp messages went unanswered.
Genus Power Infrastructures Limited is a listed company. On Friday, shares of the company were trading at Rs 389.60 – down by 2.49% from previous days's close.
The BuckStopper will update the story with their versions after receiving the responses.
The ED chargesheet says that GPIL had won the contract to supply smart meters across Bihar in 2022-23. It is alleged that GPIL diverted bribe of Rs 60 crore to Hans through the subcontractors controlled by the IAS and his friends.
Meanwhile, energy secretary of Bihar Pankaj Pal has given show cause notice to Genus Power for slow implementation of smart meter in South Bihar. He has warned company of black listing it if the company fails to comply the pace of installing 15,000 metres per day to complete the contract in time.
What was the deal?
According to the chargesheet produced before the court in Patna, ED said that Genus Power Infrastructures won bid worth more than Rs 3,300 crore for installations of smart meters from two power distribution companies in the state—South Bihar Power Distribution Company and North Bihar Power Distribution Company—between 2022 and 2023.
At the time, Sanjeev Hans was the principal secretary of Bihar's energy department.
According to sources, a company called Dhoot Infrastructure Projects Limited (DIPL) was introduced to GPIL, which signed an agreement with DIPL. As per the agreement, GIPL was to pay 4% commission of the total contract to DIPL for facilitating the successful bid.
“GIPL agreed to pass on Rs 123 crore as a commission to DIPL. Almost 50% years of the said amount (Rs 60 crores) was already transferred to the bank accounts of Prema Smart Solution Private Limited, which Pushpraj Bajaj, a long-term associate of Sanjeev Hans, controlled. Before the full amount could be transferred, investigation started against Hans and his aides,” sources said.
The central agency has raided more than 20 locations of Hans and his friends to recover bribe amount and seize unaccounted wealth.
During the raids, the ED seized 15 watches of luxury brands, such as Rado, Rolex and Monte Blank — worth approximately Rs 40 lakh — and 1,100 grams of gold from Sanjeev Hans's premises in Patna.
The agency also attached seven immovable properties, such as three land parcels in Nagpur, one flat in Delhi and three flats in Jaipur — worth Rs 23.72 crore —acquired in the name of Hans's friends and family members.
Vivek Shukla is a management graduate who has worked in corporate worked for 20 years and is now pursuing his passion — news.
