Hindustan Times: Chandigarh: Wednesday, March 26, 2014.
The Punjab
government's inquiry committee headed by financial commissioner, revenue, has
found culpability and impropriety against nine serving and retired IAS officers
for improper use of Red Cross Society funds.
These are
Vikas Garg, SR Ladhar, Sarvjit Singh, K Siva Prasad, Anjali Bhawra and Kumar
Rahul. Retired officers are JR Kundal, KS Sidhu and Harkesh Sindh Sidhu.
In its report
submitted to the Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday, the state government
said most of these cases were now pending for final decision by the personnel
department.
The scandal
had surfaced after Hindustan Times published a series of reports in December
2007, based on voluminous
information obtained under the RTI Act by NGO Resurgence India.
The high
court, in March 2009, had constituted a committee comprising justice AL Bahri
(retd) and justice RK Nehru (retd) to look into the doubtful working of the Red
Cross Societies in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. The committee had submitted
a number of reports highlighting irregularities.
Impropriety;
It has been
found that during the tenure of JR Kundal as deputy commissioner (DC),
Rupnagar, irregular sale of Red Cross land was made to a private organisation
namely Hawks Club. During the tenure of KS Sidhu as Gurdaspur DC, a payment of
Rs. 1 lakh was made to MTNL of the phone installed at an MP's New Delhi
residence in January 2002.
After finding
an expenditure of Rs. 1.7 lakh as reimbursement for mobile phone bills of K
Siva Prasad, the state government has sought his clarification, which is
awaited.
During Vikas
Garg's tenure as Patiala DC, a Toyota Innova vehicle worth Rs. 10 lakh was
bought by raising loan against the fixed deposit receipt which was yet to
mature.
Similarly, a
Toyota Innova vehicle worth Rs. 10.5 lakh was bought in June 2011 during
Harkesh Singh Sidhu's tenure as Kapurthala DC.
During SR
Ladhar's tenure as Sangrur DC, the monthly rent of a marriage palace was
arbitrarily reduced. When Sarvjit Singh was Sangrur DC, a petrol pump site was
leased out without any tendering process to a public sector company.
Anjali
Bhawra, then Fatehgarh Sahib DC, had taken an advance of Rs. 62,000 from the
Red Cross Society and now the amount had been recouped to the society and the
matter was under consideration with the department of personnel.
The conduct
of Kumar Rahul, former Mansa DC of not providing timely information to the
inquiry committee has been found improper.
No
impropriety in Haryana, UT;
Haryana
government as well as Chandigarh administration said no misuse of official
position was established nor had any monetary gain been derived by the officers
concerned in allowing expenditure from the Red Cross funds.
The case has
been adjourned to April 1.
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