A 6% commission was fixed for passing the bill.
The Military Engineer Services (MES) officer caught taking a bribe of Rs 40,000 in Jhakri, Rampur, in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh had fixed a 6% commission for passing the bill. The officer had demanded a bribe of Rs 40,000 for passing two bills of Rs 5 lakh each of the contractor. The officer used to talk only on WhatsApp calls and did not talk on normal calls. This was revealed during interrogation after three days of remand from the CBI Special Court. The complainant contractor had taken the contract to build a guardroom at Averi Military Station in Kullu. 2 guardrooms were to be constructed near Gate No. 2 and Gate No. 3.
Its estimated cost was Rs 32 lakh and Rs 38 lakh, respectively. The contractor got the construction contract through e-tendering. 6 bills for this work were paid to the contractor. It is alleged that after the completion of these works in December 2024, the complainant had submitted the final bills of about Rs 5 lakh to the Military Engineer Services (MES) officer for technical approval. After technical approval, the bills are sent by the Garrison Engineer Office to the CWE Hills Office in Dehradun. It is alleged that on June 16, the officer called the contractor and demanded Rs 40,000. The accused officer will be produced in court again on Monday.
To verify the allegations of a bribe demanded by the officer on behalf of the contractor, the CBI made a WhatsApp call to the officer in the presence of an independent witness from the contractor and it was also recorded with a digital voice recorder as per the rules. The audio call recording revealed that there was a conversation between the complainant and the officer regarding the bribe. The CBI can also present this recording in the court in the digital evidence room.
