Cronies, cricket and corruption, Mr Jaitley?

On January 30, 2017, Delhi High Court appointed retired Supreme Court judge Vikramjit Sen as the Administrator of the DDCA and directed him to engage an external auditor to examine accounts of Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA), a company registered under the Companies Act, for three financial years from April, 2012 to March, 2015.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley resigned as the DDCA president in December, 2013. But he was very much at the helm of affairs for 21 out of the 36 months examined by the auditors, chartered accountancy firm G S Mathur & Co. From its 193-page report and annexures along with four volumes of ‘evidence’, we reproduce some of the findings—literally the tip of the iceberg.

Free tickets given to officials

Ever wondered about the full houses in stadia for IPL matches? And how so many people afford to buy even expensive tickets costing `7,000 to `14,000 each? Well, it would seem that a large number of such tickets are distributed free to bureaucrats, police officers and others by the cricket associations themselves.

• The audit team found that names of people to whom complimentary tickets and passes were given are nowhere recorded. DDCA said in its reply that there was no precedent for obtaining receipts from recipients.
• Complimentary passes were to be distributed by GMR Sports Pvt Ltd. and there is no explanation why DDCA distributed tickets worth several crores of Rupees.
• The audit concluded that on the basis of limited records made available to the audit team (cash vouchers for ₹55 lakh were not available with the DDCA), there was embezzlement of tickets worth ₹2.3 crore.
• SP Bansal in addition to complimentary tickets provided by GMR, purchased additional tickets during 2013 & 14 at a discounted price of `75,33,300 from GMR Sports Pvt Ltd on credit on account of DDCA as per GMR correspondence. GMR has claimed and adjusted `75,33,300 from the amount payable to DDCA.
• In addition to the above, Shri SP Bansal had also issued a cheque no 315375 dated 24.08.2012 for `11.42 lakh drawn on Bank of Maharashtra for purchase of tickets. No accounts of the tickets of `11.42 lakh was given by SP Bansal to DDCA.

Where there’s will, there’s a way!

With most IPL matches played under floodlights, cricket associations pay a minor fortune on lighting. While the powerful floodlights consume a lot of electricity, associations also buy diesel for standby gensets in case of disruptions in electricity supply.

• But the audit found no record of when and for how long diesel gensets had to be used.
• There was no stock register of diesel.
• India played Pakistan a one-dayer on January 6, 2013, and a five-day test match between March 22 and March 26 at the Feroze Shah Kotla.
• But the DDCA withdrew cash on February 9, ostensibly for a BCCI meeting in the capital but produced cash vouchers on the same date to suggest that the entire sum was spent on buying diesel for the Indo-Pak match.
• Audit query on the urgency to buy diesel a month and a half before the Test match went unanswered.
• “Necessity to purchase diesel in February 2013 is not on record. The justification for withdrawal of cash in the name of BCCI Meeting and subsequent utilisation thereof for purchase of Diesel in the name of India and Pakistan ODI is also not on record. No stock register of diesel was maintained to record purchase, consumption and stock of diesel on any given date.”
• “A sum of `18 lakh withdrawn for BCCI Meeting and subsequently stated to have been utilised for payment on the same date to vendors for supplies / works done during GDI match between India and Pakistan through unknown person/DDCA staff without seeking acknowledgement from the vendors indicate that these were sham entries passed with the intention of siphoning cash by the office bearers.

Payment for work not done

Within four months in 2013 between June and October, the audit found DDCA had paid over ₹10 lakh to three different firms for executing the same work. While the invoice of one of them raised in June was certified by the in-house civil engineer, he professed complete ignorance about the work done by the other two firms which raised invoices in October and were paid a sum of ₹7.7 lakh by DDCA.

• “Supply, erection & fabrication for Increasing the height of side railing near the sitting area by cutting, welding grinding & painting etc. of MS Pipe of size 50MM dia of medium class at C-WIng & A-Wing at Ferozeshah Kotla was executed by M/S Ritu Where Engineers & Contractors, which submitted the invoice on June 29.
• But M/S Manu Technical and Financial Consultants Pvt Ltd. raised a bill for the same work on October 30 and claimed ₹5 lakh while another firm Neofam Trading Co. also raised a bill on October 23 for ₹2.70 lakh, again for executing the same work. The DDCA civil engineer Ajay Kumar Chaurasia denied any knowledge of the work executed by the two firms. Payments were made to the two firms without any certificate issued by him.

• The audit records payment of ₹42 lakh more made without the knowledge and certification by the civil engineer.

Payment of `33 lakh to non-existent consultants

The DDCA appointed in 2011 B. Mathur Consultants Pvt Ltd. to handle corporate law matters ‘including Intellectual Property Rights’. But the audit team found two different firms paid identical amounts of ₹16.85 lakh by cheque on the same day, i.e. October 17 in 2014. However, DDCA failed to produce any report or advice submitted by the two firms. Even more shockingly, the two firms were found to be non-existent. This is what the audit report records:

• One CA Article Assistant went on June 29, 2017 to the office of BRG Financial services Pvt. Ltd. at the address given on the Bill: 449, RPS Flats, Mansarover Park, Shahdara, Delhi 110032. He contacted the Police and owner of the Mother Dairy outlet close to the said address. They confirmed that no company in the name of BRG Financial services Pvt. Ltd was operating at the given address.
• The other CA Article Assistant went to the office of VAAZ Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. at the address given on the Bill: B-7/2 Welcome Group, CGHS, PL-6, Sector-3, Dwarka, New Delhi-110075. He reported that he met the guard of the society of Welcome Group and was told that no company named VAAZ Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. had ever existed at the given address.

Fake address & the missing first floor

Physical verification by the audit team revealed that no tent house operated from the addresses given on the bills submitted to the DDCA. In fact there was no first floor while on the ground floor was an outlet selling snacks ( Namkeen). Yet the tent houses were paid for theme work during IPL and International matches at the Ferozeshah Kotla as well as other tournaments.

• The address of M/S Grace Services was 3277, 1st floor, Tiraha Behram Khan, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110002 and that of M/S Pearl Tent & Decorators 3277, Tiraha Behram Khan, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110002.
• Three audit personnel visited the premises on 22.07.2017 and found no building on the first floor.
• M/s Pooja Decorators and M/s Pearl Tent & Decorators were operated by the same owner, Upendra Jain, owner of the above firms was a member of DDCA (Membership Number: LM001425) and his name was removed from the membership on 05.01.2014. This was in contravention of company rules that did not allow members to be given commercial contracts.

This is a cover up: Kirti Azad, BJP MP

• Audit should have covered the period from 2006. Why does it cover the period after 2012?
• My fight has been against fraud worth ₹400 crore. The special audit report is a cover-up. Still, I have been vindicated.
• CBI has been investigating the case since October 23, 2015 but nothing has moved.
• Arun Jaitley was president of a private firm and corruption took place during his term. I was not calling the finance minister corrupt, for which BJP has suspended me. I was questioning the former president of a private firm.
• Appointing an administrator is an indication that the High Court believes there is something fishy.

Pradeep Chhindra, Advocate
The next date of hearing is December 4. The High Court has sent notices to the ex-directors to appear before the court. The summon, however, is not regarding the special audit report but about the AGM in which DDCA members refused to accept the orders of the honourable Supreme Court and the High Court.

Details of tickets of match between India and Pakistan on January 6, 2013

Despite zero sale of tickets online or from the cash counters for several slabs for the India-Pakistan match (third and final ODI of Pakistan’s tour of India, 2012-13), DDCA shelled out money to buy them up. To buy out a complete slab (West Corp Box), DDCA spent more than `60 lakh.