The Special PMLA Court in Dimapur has received a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) from the Dimapur Sub Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding alleged misappropriation of public funds and poor construction of the new Kohima bench complex of the Gauhati High Court. Avituo Sekhose, M/s Hexad Syndicate, Thepfusatuo Rio, Mhalelie Rio, and Vibeilietuo Kets were named in the prosecution’s case for allegedly embezzling government funds while carrying out the construction of the new high court facility. According to an official statement, the inquiry was started by the ED based on a formal complaint filed on June 17, 2019, by the Imphal Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Central Bureau of inquiry (CBI).
On the Gauhati High Court’s Kohima bench’s orders, the CBI filed a PIL (suo moto) alleging theft of public funds and poor building of the new high court complex in Kohima. The FIR was filed under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. It specifically claimed that government employees of the Nagaland Public Works Department (PWD) had embezzled taxpayer funds while carrying out the construction of the new high court complex in a criminal conspiracy with government contractors.
According to the statement, the ED discovered that Nagaland PWD officials had falsely inflated the costs of building two retaining walls in the new high court complex and had paid government contractor Avituo Sekhose an excess of almost Rs 80.25 lakh. In a similar vein, the government contractors and Nagaland PWD officials conspired to inflate the cost of building a high court complex road and footpath with chequered tiles. As a result, the firm M/s Hexad Syndicate and its partners Thepfusatuo Rio, Mhalelie Rio, and Vibeilietuo Kets received an excess payment of almost Rs 29.68 lakh. It has been determined that the proceeds of crime amount to around Rs 1.09 crore. A provisional attachment order of Rs 96.67 lakh was also issued by the ED during the inquiry. The inquiry has shown that a number of Nagaland PWD officials were involved, which resulted in a significant loss for the public coffers.
