Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari’s office has termed as “malicious, fabricated, and baseless” allegations of corruption levelled against his sons, over media reports that alleged that Swedish truck and bus maker Scania delivered a bus for use in Gadkari’s daughter’s wedding in 2016.
Gadkari has also issued legal defamation notice to both media houses SVT, Sweden, and ZDF, Germany.
“The allegations that the bus was not paid for and was used for the wedding of Nitin Gadkari’s daughter are nothing but a figment of the media’s imagination. The media reports that the bus was financed by a Volkswagen finance company, but Scania stepped into pay for the part that the above-mentioned company did not, that itself contradicts that the bus was a gift to the Union Minister. Since the entire episode of the Scania bus is an internal affair of the Swedish company, it will be prudent for the media to wait for an official statement by Scania India which handled the matter. Nitin Gadkari and his family members have absolutely nothing to do with the purchase or sale of the bus,” said a statement by his office.
The Union minister’s office also claimed that Scania representatives have responded to the allegations by saying that they had not sent any bus to the BJP leader, nor have they been involved in any deals with the minister’s sons.
“No, this particular bus was purchased from Scania India in 2016 by one of the company’s private dealers who delivered it to one of its customers (an Indian bus operator). I have no information about the current status of the bus,” said Hans-Åke Danielsson, a company spokesperson based in Sweden.
About the “deal” with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), Scania said that 55 buses used for trial were then returned to it. “These public transport buses were delivered to NMC and were returned to Scania India after the trial was finished. All of the, in total 55, ethanol buses ordered by NMC have been returned to Scania India,” said the company spokesperson.
An investigation had allegedly revealed that the Swedish truck and bus maker Scania paid bribes to win bus contracts in seven Indian states between 2013 and 2016.
Among those who allegedly took bribes from Scania was an unnamed Indian minister.
A media agency reported, quoting the investigation, that Scania delivered a luxury bus in November 2016 to a company with ties to Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s sons.
A Scania spokesperson told Reuters that a 2017 investigation by the company, which is a part of the Volkswagen group, found “serious shortcomings” by employees, including senior management. “This misconduct included alleged bribery, bribery through business partners and misrepresentation,” he said, adding that the company had since stopped selling city buses in India and shuttered its manufacturing unit in the country.
According to the investigation, Scania allegedly also forfeited truck models by replacing chassis numbers and license plates to sell them to an Indian mining company as part of a $11.8 million deal.