The chargesheet filed in a special court here named the then Delhi zone MES chief engineer Brigadier A K Soni, superintendent surveyor of works N B Singh and four other MES officials -- K K Karihaloo, K L Khanna, S K Sangri and Mohammad Zafar Ullah as accused in the case.

The CBI alleged that the accused had cheated the MES by dishonestly awarding a contract to Delhi-based private firm K B Contractors for supply, installation and commissioning of a mechanised laundry plant at army's referral and research (R&R) hospital here at a highly exorbitant rate.

They also fraudulently included the make of the proposed laundry plant as snow white or stefab while preparing the tender, CBI alleged.

The accused did not give fresh advertisement for the aforesaid work and deliberately excludedvital parts of the laundry plant from the scope of work in order to show `favour' to K B Contractors, it said.

They awarded the contract to K B Contractors at an exorbitant rate of Rs 73,59,248 causing `wrongful loss' of Rs 20 lakh to the MES and a corresponding `wrongful gain' to themselves, CBI alleged.

The government had accorded sanction for installation of a new machanised laundry plant at R&R hospital in November 1993 at an estimated cost of Rs 1.21 crore which was to be met out of the savings of other projects of the hospital.

Brigadier A K Soni was assigned the task of contract planning for the project. Soni along with other MES officials entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the army of the said amount, CBI alleged.

The agency has sought to prosecute the accused under Section 120b (criminal conspiracy), section 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code and section 13(2) read with section 13(1)(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act.