Graft taint on BJP leader in Punjab

CHANDIGARH:

BJP stalwart L K Advani's Jan Chetna Yatra, which is meant to create a movement against corruption, is passing though Punjab at a time when Punjab BJP's own top leader has to address some uncomfortable questions lurking in his own backyard. 

The municipal council of Hoshiarpur, which also happens to be the constituency of BJP leader of the house and local government minister Tikshan Sud, has been in the eye of the storm for the last six months. 

This followed revelations that some politicians and officials of the council bypassed rules meant for transparency in financial transactions, and misused the clause of using emergency funds to get works done on inflated cost. 

To make matters worse, the local government department, which had suspended six employees of the MC soon after a report of the chief vigilance officer (CVO) found them guilty, reinstated all the six within a month, after merely issuing a warning to them. "The Municipal Account Code 1930 clearly states that cases involving embezzlement of more than Rs 1,000 have to be registered with the police, but, here violations/embezzlements of nearly Rs 20,000 were taking place almost every day, but no case was ever registered," said highly placed sources. And now, the local bodies department has been sitting over a direction of Punjab and Haryana high court, made in May this year, to take "appropriate action, in accordance with law, within a period of one month (of the judgment)". 

The petitioner, Mohanlal, a Congress councillor of Hoshiarpur municipal council had approached the HC seeking action against the guilty officials and the MC president for willfully causing loss to the council and flouting MC rules by allowing such works. 

The scam came to light when the CVO of the local government held an inquiry into the emergent works done during the period between April 2009 and February 2011, and found the council guilty of serious irregularities. 

MC president Shiv Sood, who has been accused by the petitioner of being involved in the scam, told TOI that the HC directions had been sent to the secretary of local government, and he did not have any information. 

"The entire case was politically motivated, because the complainant is a Congress councillor. All the works were completed, and the inquiry found fault only with one aspect, that proper system was not followed," he claimed. 

Local government secretary Satish Chandra, who was given the charge only last week after the retirement of earlier secretary S S Rajput said, "If there are HC directions, then these would be definitely followed." He added that he not aware of any contempt notice being issued to the department for not following directions.