New Delhi, May 20 (IANS): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday filed a chargesheet against nine people, including sports administrator Suresh Kalmadi, and two companies in a case related to alleged irregularities in the preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG).

Special Judge Talwant Singh, accepting the chargesheet, said: "The chargesheet will be taken for cognizance May 23. The investigation officer (IO) should be present."

The chargesheet, the first in the case, runs into 36 pages. It includes the names of CWG Organising Committee (OC) heavyweights Suresh Kalmadi, Lalit Bhanot and V.K. Verma. The case deals with irregularities in awarding a contract for timing equipment to a Swiss company in the mega event held last year.

The others named are OC officials Surjeet Lal, A.S.V. Prasad, M. Jayachandran and three others who are absconding -- Anil Madan, A.K. Reddy and Purshottam Arya. The two companies are AKR Construction and Swiss Timing.

The accused have been charged with cheating, criminal conspiracy, and corruption under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

CBI has alleged that the accused officials colluded to award the contract for the TSR (timing, scoring, results) system to Swiss Timing at an inflated cost of Rs.141 crore, causing a loss of some Rs.95 crore to the exchequer.

Kalmadi and his teammates are accused of pocketing the entire amount as kickbacks. Swiss Timing, in turn, outsourced parts of the contract to Gem International and AKR Constructions.