Kandla Port: Scam and Corporatisation

By Aiswarya Lakshmi June 6, 2015

Anti-Corruption Bureau in the state of Gujarat has ordered by a Kutch court to probe the alleged multi-million rupee scam in Kandla Port Turst (KPT), has filed a revision petition saying the case be handed over to a national agency like CBI instead, reports PTI.

“Gandhidham unit of ACB filed a revision plea before the sessions court yesterday and challenged the magistrate’s order to probe the scam. We have demanded that the case should be probed by a national agency, probably CBI, and we certainly cannot do it as the Trust comes under the Union Government” police inspector C J Sureja of ACB said.

The sources in KPT as well as the Ministry of Shipping said that options are being evaluated with regards to what action can be taken against the official who has come under scrutiny.

Meanwhile, a report in the Business Standard says that Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said attempts were being made to find alternatives to corporatization, which was opposed by port employees, for upgrading infrastructure and services, as announced in Budget 2015-16.

“Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had told us (in the Budget) about the Companies Act, but we are looking at other alternatives beyond the Companies Act to modernize and develop the ports," Gadkari told reporters at a Mumbai port trust event. Jaitley had said major ports would be encouraged to come under the Companies Act for better functioning.