M A I N   N E W S

Oz companies to sue CWG organisers over unpaid bills

Melbourne, January 20
At least four of Australia’s biggest event firms plan to slap a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against organisers of New Delhi Commonwealth Games for non-payment of outstanding dues.

The issue of pending bills for the October Commonwealth Games-related work was also raised by Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd during talks with his Indian counterpart SM Krishna in an embarrassment to the visiting dignitary.

Krishna assured the Australian government he would take up the matter of non-payment of dues with the Ministry of Sports. Rudd on his part said he was satisfied with the Indian government’s response to the issue, which he described as a “complicated one”.

The firms included those which worked for the glittering opening and closing ceremonies and behind pyrotechnics and fireworks display. The firms claimed that the total outstanding amount ran into nearly $2 million.

In potential trouble for the beleaguered CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi, events organiser Ric Birch has commissioned law firm Slater and Gordon to draw up the multi-million dollar lawsuit that would involve at least four of Australia’s biggest event firms, including his firm Spectak Productions and fireworks group Howard & Sons.

Birch, who was the mastermind behind the successful opening and closing ceremonies of the mega-event from October 3 to 14 last year, said that his employers have still not paid their bills.

Birch’s Indian lawsuit is shaping as the first salvo in a possible $3 million-plus class action against the organisers.

“I supplied the services of 12 people over the course of

the year leading up to the Games, which included choreographers, producers and myself as executive producer,” he said. “They’re all production people who were intimately involved in the creation, production and direction of the opening and closing ceremonies.” Krishna told a joint press conference after his meeting with Rudd that “It(dues) has been brought to my notice and I would go back to India and take it up with the Ministry of Sports.” Referring to the Australian companies involved in the matter, Rudd said these are private contractual arrangements between individual companies on one hand and a responsibility of the Commonwealth Games authority on the other. He said the Australian government will work with the companies to assure that proper payments are made to them.

“We will work with them like any other Australian company that faces such an issue,” he said. Howard & Sons boss Andrew Howard said the combination of the unpaid money and the hold-up of the company’s unique pyrotechnics firing equipment in Delhi had left the firm facing a financial crisis.

Brich claimed that when he tried to contact the organisers of the Games in relation to the unpaid bills, the calls were first ignored.

“Then finally in December I got a very short note from Lalit Bhanot who is secretary general of the organising committee. He sent a note saying that now they wanted to claim a performance guarantee because Mr Birch’s performance was not up to the mark. So I am mortified as you can imagine.” Birch claimed his firm is owed $350,000 on his Games contract while Howard & Sons said $300,000 in unpaid bills is due but it could shoot up to $900,000 once compensation for not having crucial equipments available was taken into account. Two other Australian companies said they were also owed about $1.6 million by organisers.

“We had an anagram which came about by the ceremonies that everyone was heartily sick of the Delhi Organising Committee so we decided that India stood for ‘India - I’ll never do it again’,” he said. But it is not only the private sector that is bearing the burnt, even the Australian Commonwealth Games Association is owed more than $100,000 in travel subsidies. — PTI

Maken issues 10-day notice

The Sports Ministry on Thursday issued a 10-day ultimatum to government nominees in the Organising Commmittee to sort out payment issues. New Sports Minister Ajay Maken has directed government nominees in the Organising Committee to “thoroughly verify” the unpaid dues and ensure that the payments are made within ten days.

Shunglu panel: Hold back CWG payment to UK company
Anita Katyal/Our Political Correspondent

New Delhi, January 20
The high-level Shunglu Committee, appointed by the Prime Minister to look into corruption in the conduct of the Commonwealth Games, is learnt to have written to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry advising it against paying the final instalment to British firm SIS Live which had been contracted for Rs 246 crore for the telecast of the CW.G

The letter, which was received by the ministry a few days ago, did not give any details but only cited serious lapses in the contract as grounds for holding back the dues. Although the bulk of the payment has already been made, the ministry still owes close to Rs 98 crore to the British company.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General VK Shunglu to look into corruption in the works carried out for the Commonwealth Games. The committee, which was given three months to complete its work, is slated to submit its report by January 25. The report is expected to throw light on the problems in this and other contracts finalised by the Organising Committee for the games.

The contract with SIS Live also had its share of controversies last year when questions were raised about the deal after theI-TDept found alleged discrepancies in the documents provided by SIS Live and it was found that the company was trying to evade taxes to the tune of Rs 29 crore. Prasar Bharti and the I&B Ministry had said the deal was “transparent”.