Indian Express: Jaipur: Friday, October 09, 2015.
After being
called in by the Anti-Corruption Bureau for questioning in a purported land
scam, Congress leader and former Urban Development Minister Shanti Dhariwal has
sought more time from the Bureau in order to prepare himself.
Dhariwal said
he had filed an RTI application to obtain the documents related to the scam and
would appear before the ACB once he received the documents, probably by October
16.
The ACB has
already arrested a senior Rajasthan Administrative Service officer in the case
and is on the lookout for former IAS officer G S Sandhu who retired as the
chairperson of the National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention on
September 30.
“It is pure
political vendetta. I discovered the scam in 2013 and had myself cancelled the
deed. I had also recommended an FIR against errant officials of the Jaipur
Development Authority,” Dhariwal told The Indian Express.
“But then the
BJP came to power and no FIR was registered. Now suddenly, they have woken up.
I am ready to cooperate with the investigation but I need time to strengthen my
defence. I am collecting relevant documents and have filed an RTI application
with an urgent clause to get the documents,” he said.
The ACB had
served a notice to Dhariwal on Wednesday, calling him for questioning in a case
pertaining to the alleged illegal transfer of a piece of land to a construction
company while he was the minister for urban development in the Ashok Gehlot-led
Congress government in 2011.
The 28 bigha
piece of land registered for use by a housing society pegged at over Rs 300
crore was reportedly transferred to Ganpati construction company through a
single land deed, only for a nominal amount by government officials illegally.
The company owner is already in jail.
Last year,
the ACB had registered an FIR in the case. On Tuesday, it arrested RAS officer
Nishkam Diwakar who has been sent to 14-day judicial custody.
The ACB teams
are now on the lookout of Sandhu who was the Principal Secretary, Urban
Development and Housing department then.
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