Several L&T and Cognizant officials have been named in a case filed by vigilance unit in Chennai.
Several Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Cognizant’s top executives are under the scanner for their alleged involvement in a bribery case. The names of many past and present executives have surfaced in Chennai's vigilance and anti-corruption unit's investigation.
According to a Times of India report, the unit has accused these executives of criminal conspiracy for bribing officials of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, state housing and urban department and a minister in the state government. The executives bribed the officials during the construction of KITS Campus facility, which was built between 2011 and 2016.
The report stated that the FIR has names of L&T officials, which include CEO and MD SN Subrahmanyan, former construction division head V Ramesh, former Chennai business unit head K Kannan and senior VP MV Sathish. The officials from Cognizant who have been named in the case include former VP (administration) R Srimanikandan and former COO T Sridhar Thiruvengadam.
According to the details of the case mentioned in the report, the accused executives had paid a bribe of over Rs 12 crore to state officials for getting a planning permit. It added that the construction work had been going on without a formal clearance for over a year. As per the FIR, a bribe of Rs 3 crore was also paid to consultancy firm’s officials for dealing with the state government.
The TOI report stated that both the companies have not commented on the investigation, stating that the matter is sub-judice. The FIR also named both the companies.