Shimla, June 20 (IANS) A military engineer in Himachal Pradesh was booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for demanding a bribe of Rs 40,000 from a private construction contractor in exchange for approving his pending payments totalling Rs 10 lakh, an official said on Friday.

Kulwant Singh Malik, Assistant Garrison Engineer (AGE) (Contracts), Jhakri, district Shimla, allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 40,000 from Arvind Kumar, proprietor of Haryana-based Jupiter Builders, said an official.

Arvind Kumar filed a written complaint on June 18 before, CBI, ACB, Shimla, alleging that Malik was demanding undue advantage/bribe of Rs 40,000 as a reward instead of giving technical clearance in respect of six bills and clearance for payment of final bills and ensuring payment of the pending bills of the complainant by June 19.

He said his firm, registered with the Military Engineering Service, Western Command as a contractor, was awarded construction work of two Guard Rooms near Gate No. 2 and Gate No. 3 at Averi Military Station, in Kullu district.

The estimated cost of the two works was Rs 32 lakh and Rs 38 lakh, respectively. The construction company was awarded the contract through e-tendering.

Arvind Kumar alleged that after completion of these works in December 2024, the final bill, of approximately Rs 5 lakh each, was submitted by his company, and these were now pending with Malik for technical clearance since December 2024.

As per the laid-down procedure, after technical clearance, these bills need to be sent to the Chief Works Engineer (Hills), Dehradun, by the office of the Garrison Engineer.

The contractor alleged that on June 16, Malik contacted him on the phone and demanded a Rs 40,000 lump sum amount for the already technically-cleared six bills of the company and for further submission of the pending two final bills after technical clearance.

On Wednesday, the contractor complained to the CBI, which verified his allegations and prepared a preliminary report.

The CBI report said, “The above complaint and verification report dated June 18 disclose commission of offence punishable under section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Kulwant Singh Malik, Assistant Garrison Engineer (AGE) (Contracts).”

–IANS

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