Thiruvananthapuram: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has denied all the allegations, including irregularities in the appointment of Swapna Suresh, made in a notice issued by Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL) to cancel the contract with the firm for Space Park consultancy.

In its response to the notice, the PwC’s legal team told the KSITIL's lawyer that the company had followed all the procedures in the appointment of Swapna Suresh.

According to legal experts, the PwC, in its defence, can point to the report of the two-member committee headed by chief secretary Vishwas Mehta that said Swapna was appointed on the recommendation of former IT secretary M Sivasankar, who was also the chairman of the Space Park. KSITIL officials did not say if the consultancy firm has mentioned this finding in its reply.

Swapna was dismissed from Space Park for her alleged involvement in the Trivandrum Airport gold smuggling case. Sivasankar has also been suspended and removed as IT secretary over his alleged links to Swapna and other accused in the case.

The IT department sent the notice to PWC to cancel the contract after Swapna’s arrest in the gold smuggling case and after it was revealed that the degree certificate she had submitted for the job at Space Park was fake.

The notice said the agency had breached the consultancy contract by appointing a person with a criminal background and with forged educational qualifications in a government facility. It also sought compensation for the alleged breach.

Decision over K-FONE contract soon   

A decision on PwC’s association with the K-FONE scheme will be taken soon, KSITIL officials said. 

In the wake of the controversy surrounding PwC over the appointment of Swapna Suresh in Space Park, KSITIL had said that it had left it to the government to decide whether PwC must be removed as consultants to the K-FONE project. The government’s final decision is expected soon, officials said. 

The project currently has six executives from the PwC. 

The firm was selected as consultants for the K-FONE project by a committee headed by former IT secretary M Sivasankar.

Police write to Maharashtra university over Swapna’s forged certificate

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala police have written to the Baba Saheb Ambedkar Technical University in Maharashtra seeking a report on the fake graduation certificate under the institution’s name that Swapna Suresh had submitted for getting the job in Space Park. 

Swapna had submitted a BCom degree certificate purportedly from the University. Manorama was the first to report that the university did not offer a BCom course.

Cantonment Assistant Commissioner Sunish Babu said action would be taken to arrest Swapna in the case after the university submitted its report. 

The police will record Swapna’s arrest for submitting the fake certificate only after the central agencies complete her interrogation in the gold smuggling case and send her to jail.

Customs to seek custody of Swapna, Sandeep

Customs (Preventive) will file an application in the Economic Offences court on Monday seeking the custody of Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, arrested in the Trivandrum Airport gold smuggling case, for questioning.

The two are currently in the custody of the National Investigation Agency. They were arrested from Bengaluru on July 11 when they were on the run after the gold smuggling case was detected on July 5.

The department may also file an application in the court for non-bailable arrest warrants against Faisal Fareed and Rabbins, who are said to have operated the gold smuggling racket from Dubai. It had earlier applied for the cancellation of their passports.