Daily Bhaskar; Amarjeet Singh, Thursday, July 21, 2011,
Indore: It's been eight years since the Lokayukta gave the go-ahead to prosecute a set of corrupt bureaucrats in Indore, but it looks like the state government is hesitant to proceed even after it was sent multiple reminders to take action.
The information surfaced through an RTI query which was filed by DNA at the Lokayukta office in Bhopal.
The information revealed in the RTI, suggests that the government has been trying to shield five officials of State Administrative Services, State Engineering Services and Indian Administrative Services, who worked in Indore's civic bodies in different capacities eight years ago.
The officers in question are JS Jadaun, the then building officer at Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC), JP Rawat, the then assistant architect at IMC, PC Jain, the then sub-engineer of IMC, U K Samal, the then principal secretary of the housing and environment department and RK Gupta, the then CEO of the Indore Development Authority.
Charged by the Lokayukta under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, sources informed that these officials wrongfully allowed the construction of a residential building on a plot at MIG Square, which, according to the Master Plan, was meant for a hospital building.
It is worth mentioning that for the prosecution of public servants for offences which are fundamentally criminal in nature, a grant of sanction under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is necessary. This grant protects these officials from frivolous prosecution and in cases where the prosecution of these persons is not in public interest.
In its reply, the Lokayukta has informed that prosecution sanctions against Jadaun, Rawat and Jain have been pending since the year 2003, while the prosecution sanctions of Samal, who has retired, and Gupta have been pending since 2008.
Samal was also recently named by the EOW in its chargesheet in the Treasure Island Mall case.
Talking to DNA, Law and Parliamentary affairs minister Narottam Mishra said, "I will look into the matter and see to it why has the sanctions been delayed." "In cases where we are not getting prosecution sanctions we write reminders to the government and then we write reminders to the government. I will personally look into these issues as these cases are 8 years old," Lokayukta justice TT Navlekar said.
When contacted, one of the officials GS Jadaun evasively said, "I don't know which case you are talking about. All the cases against me have been quashed by Supreme Court."
.JPG)
.JPG)
