DM orders reinvestigation into corruption complaint against Powayan nagar palika

Times of India: Kanweersingh Singhi: Shahajahanpur: Monday, May 21, 2018.

Shahjahanpur district magistrate Amrit Tripathi has refused to accept the closure report submitted by additional district magistrate (finance) Sarvesh Kumar Dikshit in a complaint filed by RTI activist Manish Awasthi regarding corruption in Powayan nagar palika. Tripathi has now handed over the investigation to ADM (administration) Bachchu Singh.

Talking to TOI, the DM said that the first investigation report didn’t have the opinion of technical experts from UPNEDA (Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency) on the quality and price of the solar streetlights purchased by the nagar palika allegedly on inflated rates in 2016-17 financial year.

Earlier this year, Awasthi filed a plea in the Allahabad high court against nagar palika chairperson Sanjay Gupta, its former executive officer and other staffers for their alleged involvement in a scam running into crores in the purchase of solar streetlights. However, he was directed by the court to first file a complaint with the Shahjahanpur DM and share the action taken report with the HC.

The activist then handed over a 107-page complaint to the administration in which he provided all relevant evidence to prove that the nagar palika officials purchased every item at an inflated price.

According to Awasthi, a12 watt solar LED streetlight, which is provided by UP NEDA for RS 22,400, was purchased for RS 69,951. Through an RTI reply, he also came to know that a generator of 82.5 KVA, which is available for Rs 5.65 lakh in the market, was purchased for Rs 11 lakh. Similarly, a solar LED high mast light of 20 watt, which is available for Rs 1 lakh, was purchased for Rs 3.7 lakh.

The complaint was filed with the DM on March 23 and the probe was handed over to the ADM (finance). However, in his report, the ADM reportedly ignored the evidence provided by the activist and gave a clean chit to the nagar palika chairperson. The report said that none of the bidders had raised an objection against the price quoted by the company bagging the tender.

“The investigation report had many flaws and it didn’t even have the opinion of UPNEDA. The quality report from UPNEDA about the standard of lights was also not taken. Due to these factors, the investigation report was not accepted,” the DM said.