Commonwealth scam: Suresh Kalmadi gets clean chit, ED files closure report in court, uproar

New Delhi. A Delhi court has acquitted Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi in the money laundering case related to Commonwealth Games. A closure report was presented in the case presented by ED. It was said that there is no evidence against Suresh Kalmadi, which was accepted by the court. A Delhi court gave a big relief to Kalmadi by closing the 13-year-old case. This case was of money laundering against Suresh Kalmadi, former head of the organizing committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the then general secretary Lalit Bhanot and others. With the closure report, the aspect of money laundering in this alleged scam has ended.

Allegations of corruption in the organisation of the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) had triggered a major political uproar in the country, leading to the filing of several criminal and money laundering cases, including this one. Kalmadi and others were accused of corruption in the allocation and execution of two crucial contracts for the Games. Special Judge Sanjeev Agarwal observed that the CBI had already closed the corruption case, on the basis of which the ED had initiated its money laundering probe. In such a situation, this closure report is accepted.

The report also named CWG OC’s then COO Vijay Kumar Gautam, then treasurer AK Matto, Event Knowledge Service (EKS), Switzerland and CEO Craig Gordon Malaache. The judge noted ED’s observation that no money laundering offence was found during the investigation. “During the investigation, the prosecution failed to prove the offence under Section 3 (money laundering) of PMLA as no offence under Section 3 of PMLA was found or committed. Hence the closure report filed by ED is accepted.

What was the whole case?
The money laundering investigation was initiated by ED on the basis of a case registered by CBI. According to CBI, contracts related to Commonwealth Games were awarded to Games Workforce Service (GWS) and Games Planning, Project and Risk Management Services (GPPRMS). The accused knowingly and wrongfully took wrong advantage by awarding these two contracts to the consortium of EKS and Ernst & Young and caused loss of Rs 30 crore to OC, CWG. CBI later filed a closure report in January 2014, stating that “during the investigation, no incriminating evidence was found and the allegations levelled in the FIR could not be proved against the accused.”

Congress asked for apology
Congress leader Pawan Khera said that today ED has filed a closure report in the so-called Commonwealth Games (CWG) scam. For years, the BJP ecosystem used lies as a weapon to defame the Congress on 2G, CWG, Robert Vadra and coal cases. Today the truth stands strong and their lies have collapsed. These cases were never for justice. They were only a conspiracy to remain in the headlines and divert attention from their failures. The collapse of these fabricated cases is not just a legal victory but a moral and political indictment of the BJP’s politics of false narrative. The truth does not shout in TV studios. It comes out quietly, forcefully and with inevitability. Will the Prime Minister apologize to the country now? Will Arvind Kejriwal apologize to the people of Delhi?