Date:08/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/08/stories/2008050857670300.htm

Other States - Orissa

CBI to probe into ML oil purchase

Correspondent

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday directed the CBI to probe into the alleged Rs.75 crore-mosquito larvicide’s (ML) oil purchase scam of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC). The Court asked the State Vigilance Directorate to handover all the relevant documents to CBI. The vigilance wing of the State police was earlier entrusted to probe into the scam and the CBI was asked to cooperate with the former.

However, when it was alleged that several top-level officials of the State Government were allegedly involved in the multi-crore scam, the bench of Justice B.P. Das and Justice M.M. Das relieved the vigilance wing of the State police from the probe and instead directed the CBI to into the scam entirely of its own.

Alleging that a State Cabinet Minister and his relatives were reportedly involved in the purchase of poor quality ML oil by the CMC between 2000 and 2007, a PIL was filed in the HC.

PIL

The PIL, quoting a report of CBI in Andhra Pradesh had stated that the ML oil purchased for CMC was of very low quality and it was able to destroy only 20 percent of mosquito larvae. The PIL also alleged that the mosquito eradication programme had completely failed in Cuttack city as a result many precious lives have lost due to brain malaria. Mosquito menace in the city had been worsening day-by-day while the CMC is constantly being pulled up by the State High Court, the PIL said. The State Vigilance Directorate was probing into the ML oil scam in Cuttack.