Thiruvananthapuram: Global professional consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers which got embroiled in a major scandal that hit the Kerala government is under the scrutiny of the West Bengal government as the former bids for a IT project there.
Kerala had barred PwC from bidding for any projects of the state information technology department for two years after one of its hires, Swapna Suresh, was arrested last year over the sensational gold smuggling operations carried out through the diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.
Now the West Bengal government has asked the Kerala government for information on the ban because PwC is involved in a similar project in West Bengal. The deputy secretary of the West Bengal information technology department has written that they wanted to make the tender process fool-proof and to pre-empt any backlash.
The PwC has participated in a tender called for by the West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation's project monitoring unit. The Corporation is run by the state information technology department.
After the West Bengal government asked for details, the Kerala government wrote back that the PwC's legal challenge of the decision was under the consideration of the Kerala High Court.
The court had stayed the state government's decision to blacklist PwC until March 5.
As reported earlier PwC had placed Swapna in the Space Park project of the Kerala government in October 2019 at a monthly expense of Rs 3.18 lakh. PwC had hired Swapna through a recruiting agency named Vision Technology and Staffing Solutions. However, investigations had revealed she had deceived authorities in the Kerala government as well as private recruitment agencies to land the plum job.
