2010 CWG case: Kalmadi supporters celebrate court nod to ED closure report

A section of Congress workers on Tuesday distributed sweets outside former Union minister Suresh Kalmadi's residence here, a day after a Delhi court accepted the ED's closure report in the 2010 Commonwealth Games-related alleged money laundering case against him.

While there was no immediate reaction from Kalmadi or his family members over the court's decision, his followers said the court's acceptance of the closure report shows that Kalmadi was not involved in any wrongdoing. Bringing the curtains down on the 13-year-old case, the court on Monday accepted the Enforcement Directorate's closure report in the money laundering case against Kalmadi, the former head of the organising committee of 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG), and then secretary general Lalit Bhanot and others. The allegations of corruption in conducting the CWG triggered a huge political uproar in the country, leading to filing of several criminal and money laundering cases. Kalmadi and others were accused of misconduct in award and execution of two important contracts for the games. A section of Congress workers and Kalmadi's supporters gathered outside his house on Karve Road and celebrated the court's decision by distributing sweets.

A Congress worker said, "The government could not produce credible evidence in the court against Kalmadiji. The BJP, social activist Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal had levelled serious allegations against him but yesterday, the court gave a clean chit to Kalmadiji." Abhay Chhajed, a senior Congress leader from Pune and a close aide of Kalmadi, said although it took a long time, the truth has finally prevailed.

"Kalmadiji had refuted all the charges then and maintained that no wrongdoing had taken place in the CWG. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have now acknowledged that no money trail was found," he said.

"Although Kalmadi has got a clean chit, it is like 'justice delayed is justice denied' as the particular case cost him his political career," he said.

Sources close to Kalmadi, a former Lok Sabha MP from Pune and former minister of state for railways, said he was not in a position to move around due to health reasons.