Jaipur: A major corruption controversy has surfaced in Public Health Engineering Department after senior engineers allegedly protected a defaulting contractor accused of submitting forged documents, concealing bidding capacity details, and drawing fake Operation & Maintenance (O&M) payments for incomplete work worth crores of rupees.
The case revolves around alleged manipulation of tender procedures, misuse of RTPP provisions, and deliberate avoidance of punitive action against a favoured firm through what sources describe as a “bid validity game.” The controversy has also exposed the alleged involvement of three Additional Chief Engineers (ACEs), raising serious concerns over collusion between departmental officials and private contractors.
Incomplete Project Declared ‘Completed’ on Paper
The matter is linked to M/s RRBC Infra Project Pvt. Ltd., Jodhpur, which was awarded works under Udaipur Region Tender No. 09/2017-18.
According to complaints and departmental records, the company allegedly managed to get an incomplete project declared “completed” on paper in August 2020 with the help of departmental engineers. Following this, the Defect Liability Period (DLP) for the project was also initiated despite key components of the project remaining unfinished.
Sources claim that the company subsequently began receiving Operation & Maintenance (O&M) payments from 2021 onward for the same incomplete work.
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The most serious allegation relates to the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system, involving expenditure worth crores of rupees, which reportedly remained non-functional and incomplete even till March 2025.
After complaints regarding the irregularities surfaced, the Executive Engineer of Rural Division-Udaipur reportedly cancelled the earlier certificate and issued a “Revised Work Progress Certificate” on March 12, 2025, categorising the project as “running/incomplete.”
Firm Accused of Repeated False Affidavits
The controversy has further intensified because the same firm had allegedly faced similar allegations earlier.
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In 2021, the department’s Finance Committee had reportedly issued a strict warning to the company for concealing bidding capacity details and submitting false affidavits in departmental tenders. At that time, the company was warned that any future violation would invite strict action under Section 46 of the RTPP Act.
However, despite the warning, the firm allegedly repeated the same practice in fresh tenders floated under the Chief Minister’s Budget Announcements.
According to the complaint, the company submitted false declarations and manipulated bidding capacity documents in Tender No. 09/2025-26 under ACE Region-Bikaner and Tender No. 10/2025-26 under ACE Region-Kota by concealing the fact that the Udaipur project was still incomplete.
RTPP Rules Allegedly Ignored to Give Firm a ‘Safe Exit’
Under the Rajasthan Transparency in Public Procurement (RTPP) Act, submission of false affidavits and forged documents constitutes a violation of the Code of Integrity and attracts stringent punitive action, including forfeiture of Earnest Money Deposit (EMD), blacklisting, debarment, and cancellation of registration.
However, according to sources, despite the fraud allegedly being established during technical evaluation, no such punitive action was initiated against the contractor.
In Bikaner Region, the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) reportedly declared the firm technically disqualified but avoided recommending any further legal or financial action.
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Sources allege that officials deliberately allowed the firm’s bid validity period to lapse instead of formally invoking RTPP provisions. By doing so, the company was effectively given a “safe exit,” avoiding:
- Forfeiture of 2 percent EMD
- Debarment or blacklisting
- Cancellation of registration
- Further legal proceedings under RTPP provisions
The alleged manipulation has triggered accusations that officials intentionally diluted the case to protect the contractor from severe financial and legal consequences.
Alleged Collusion of Three Additional Chief Engineers
The complaint submitted to the PHED Principal Secretary reportedly names three Additional Chief Engineers and accuses them of protecting the contractor despite repeated complaints and documented irregularities.
The officers named in the complaint include:
- Shaitan Singh — Accused of allowing incomplete work to be shown as completed and facilitating continued payments despite complaints.
- Rajesh Purohit — Allegedly failed to initiate RTPP action even after the irregularities were identified during the BEC process.
- Deepak Kumar Jha — Accused of disqualifying the firm from the tender process but suppressing the file related to penal action.
The complaint has demanded a technical audit by a special departmental investigation team and strict action against all officials and engineers allegedly involved in the matter.
Questions Over ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy
The controversy has once again brought attention to allegations of corruption, commission-based tender management, fake payments, and contractor-official nexus within the PHED over the last several years.
The spotlight is now on Hemant Kumar Gera, with growing demands for an independent technical audit and strict enforcement of the government’s claimed “zero tolerance” policy against corruption.
Observers say the outcome of the case will determine whether the government intends to take concrete action against alleged procurement fraud and financial irregularities or whether the matter too will fade into bureaucratic files without accountability.