Palghar PWD Probe Flags ₹73 Lakh Record Alteration

The Jawhar PWD Irregularity

The ₹73.13 lakh irregularity in the Jawhar division of Palghar's Public Works Department is less a routine audit observation than a live test of payment integrity inside a state PWD division.

Seven works awarded for 2014-15, originally recorded in the names of educated unemployed engineers in the B-1 register, were allegedly re-routed on 31 March 2019 to Jijau Construction, Vikramgad, through changes in the online cashbook, cashbook and bill files.

The Trigger: A Directive to File a Complaint

The trigger is procedural: Palghar SP Yatish Deshmukh directed Executive Engineer Sanjay Dongre on 28 August to file a complaint with Jawhar police, following an inquiry by API Malhar Thorat into works under the PWD's Thane Circle.

The disputed sum was deposited back into the government account in early September — a reversal that raises the question of when the irregularity was actually known internally.

Structural Exposure for Delivery Professionals

For delivery professionals, the exposure is structural. Funds were available to clear the original bills, yet payments remained pending and were then diverted.

That points to a control environment where payment files could be altered after award and before disbursal, and where the beneficiary-engineer category — a social contracting window — could be substituted by a private firm.

Commercial Exposure and the SIT Demand

Commercial exposure now sits with three named entities:

- Jijau Construction
- Jijau Road Builder Pvt Ltd
- Ovi Construction Company

Vikramgad MLA Harishchandra Bhoye has sought to bring these three under a Special Investigation Team.

For these firms, the risk is not merely the returned amount; it is debarment and loss of eligibility across Thane Circle tenders.

The Official Position

Guardian Minister Ganesh Naik has framed the threshold clearly:

Withdrawal of funds after improper alteration of bill files is a financial irregularity even if the money has been returned.

Superintending Engineer Siddharth Tambe now carries the decision on further legal action.

The Industry Signal: Payment-File Integrity

The real industry signal: state PWD payment systems remain vulnerable at the record layer, not just the sanction layer.

When physical and digital records can both be altered to redirect payments, cashbook digitisation is necessary but not sufficient.

Contractors, engineers and auditors across Maharashtra should read this as a warning that payment-file integrity is becoming the next audit frontier.