THE INDIAN Olympic Association removed the organiser of the scandal-hit Delhi Commonwealth Games as its president yesterday, hours after a court ordered him held in custody on graft charges.
Suresh Kalmadi, known for his powerful political and sporting connections, is in police custody over his role in awarding a $31m (£18.71m) contract for timekeeping equipment for the Commonwealth Games to a Swiss firm.
The Indian Olympic Association’s senior vice-president Vijay Kumar Malhotra was named acting president in place of Kalmadi, who headed the organisation for 15 years.
“The senior vice president automatically takes over the duties when the president is not there,” Malhotra told reporters. “In the event of a prolonged absence… the senior vice president eventually assumes charge.”
India is considering bidding to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The move to replace Kalmadi came after a judge said the ruling Congress party lawmaker should be held in police custody for eight days for questioning.
Kalmadi, arrested on Monday (April 25) by the federal Central Bureau of Investigation, is accused of “wrongfully restricting and eliminating competition” from other would-be Games suppliers of timekeeping equipment.
Police allege the timekeeping contract was inflated by some $21m (£12.67m).
The Games were meant to showcase India's status as an emerging global power, but the sporting headlines were stolen by venue delays, shoddy construction and budget overruns in which the event’s cost tripled to at least $6bn (£3.62bn).
As Kalmadi, a target of popular scorn as the face of the Games organisational fiasco, which embarrassed India on the world stage, entered the court a protester hurled a slipper at him.
Kalmadi, 66, appeared unconcerned by the attack as police detained the man, identified by local media as a lawyer upset about India’s rampant corruption.
The CBI had sought 14 days’ custody for Kalmadi, claiming he had been “evasive and non-co-operative” in his responses. However, the court gave the police agency eight days to question Kalmadi in custody.
It also extended by another eight days the custody of two other accused in the case, Games secretary general, Lalit Bhanot, and director general, VK Verma, who were arrested in February.
“They are not revealing the true facts and circumstances of the criminal conspiracy leading to the award of timing-scoring-result system contract to Swiss Timing in a wrongful manner,” the CBI alleged in its court submission.
Swiss Timing, the Swiss firm involved, has denied any wrongdoing.
The CBI said the trio were “deeply involved” in the awarding of the contract to the company at “exorbitant rates, thus causing wrongful loss.”
Kalmadi and the others have protested their innocence.
Kalmadi was dismissed in January as head of the Games organising committee as police probed charges that organisers had manipulated tenders.
India’s anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Vigilance Commission, received complaints alleging up to $1.8bn (£1.08bn) of Games money was misused.
Kalmadi’s arrest has coincided with charges being laid against the daughter of one of the coalition government’s key allies over allegations of large kickbacks in the 2008 sale of mobile phone licences.
