Jharkhand HC asks CBI to take over probe in Games 'embezzlement' case

The Jharkhand High Court on Monday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the investigation into alleged embezzlement of public money in organising the 34th National Games in the state from the Anti Corruption Bureau.

The order was passed by a division bench of Chief Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad while hearing a public interest litigation filed by one Sushil Kumar Singh in 2018 seeking a speedy inquiry into the National Games scam hosted by the state in 2011 in the capital.

The division bench had earlier concluded hearing of the matter and reserved its order. The bench observed that the ACB has not been investigating the matter properly and investigation has still not been concluded after more than a decade of the games being hosted by the state government.

Singh in his petition has mentioned that the expenditure incurred in hosting the national games in the state had been pegged at Rs 28.38 crore. He claimed that public money was squandered by office bearers of the National Games' Organising Committee who he alleged embezzled money by quoting high prices of sports equipment and accessories.

The Committee was headed by former MP RK Anand as its president, SM Hashmi as the general secretary and Madhukant Pathak as the treasurer. The mega sports complex built at Hotwar under the aegis of the NGOC was made at an expense of Rs 600 crore spread over 234 acres of land.

Apart from the separate stadiums, a games village to house the sports persons was also constructed by Nagarjuna Constructions company while the stadiums and the main administrative building was constructed by Hyderabad based Simplex Construction Company.

The mega sports complex was started in the regime of then chief minister Arjun Munda. There are a total of nine different stadiums within the games complex.