Consent to Operate scam: Three more fake consent certificates surface in Himachal's Baddi

Ambika Sharma

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Solan, February 2

The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Baddi office, is in a spot with three more fake Consent to Operate (CO) certificates surfacing.

These cases pertain to the same consultancy firm, which provided a fake “Consent to Operate” document to Hygiene Airtech India Private Limited, Bhatolikalan, on January 20. An FIR was registered against this consultancy by the police for cheating and forgery on a complaint made by the board staff.

Board’s Chief Environmental Engineer at Baddi Praveen Gupta said after the first case came to light on January 28 , three investors, who had engaged the same consultant, came to their Baddi office to verify if their COs were genuine. While checking their certificates, it was found that among the three firms, some had not even registered themselves on the board’s portal while none had deposited fee for availing the CO.

“The fake CO issued in the name of Hygiene Airtech India Private Limited was detected as my designation was incorrectly mentioned. The consultant had also failed to make online payment for the CO while he had demanded partial payment from the firm management which created doubt in their mind,” Gupta said.

Not only this, the PDF format of the CO had been converted into a Word file by the said consultant. Gupta added that this case necessitated the introduction of security features in the online mechanism which was prevalent in 23 states.

Chances of fake NOCs of other departments also being supplied by this consultant can’t be ruled out. The CO is a key certificate which enables a unit to initiate manufacturing operations and is issued after all pollution mitigation measures are put in place by a unit.

Board Member Secretary, Apoorv Devgan, when contacted, said a police complaint had been made after the first case came to light and it was a highly mischievous act.

He said facts had been sought from officials at Baddi, following which a decision would be taken to probe the matter internally as well.

He urged the investors to approach the board directly for such NoCs and not go through consultants. “Such consultants should not be encouraged. The boldness of such consultants who provided fake NoCs has left the board officials shocked. We will get to the bottom of this case to ensure no such instance is repeated,” added Devgan.

Baddi DSP Navdeep Singh said the consultant accused in this case had been directed to join investigations at the earliest and he was at his native place in Bihar.

Same consultant was engaged

After the first case came to light on January 28 , three investors, who had engaged the same consultant, came to the Baddi office to verify if their Consent to Operate certificates were genuine. — Praveen Gupta, chief environmentalengineer, SPCB, Baddi