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Chief secretary investigated in land purchase case by Delhi Vigilance Minister

According to sources, Delhi Vigilance Minister Atishi summoned all the documents pertaining to the purchase of Bamnoli land and launched an investigation into a complaint against Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar on Saturday.

According to government sources on Friday, the complaint claimed that the chief secretary’s son worked for a cousin of a landowner who benefited from higher compensation for land purchased for a road project.

According to the officials, Atishi gave the divisional commissioner and the vigilance director instructions to deliver to her by 7 p.m. on Saturday all the documents pertaining to the purchase of Bamnoli land.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is already looking into the matter, and sources claim that the Vigilance Directorate responded to a note from the minister by citing a number of guidelines, including those from the Vigilance Manual of 2021, and emphasizing that she lacks the authority to look into it herself.

The sources further stated that the minister received a certified copy of every file pertaining to the issue from the Directorate of Vigilance.

In order to review the complaint in compliance with the guidelines set forth by the Chief Vigilance Commission, the directorate has also requested a copy of the minister’s complaint.

The minister stated that ‘no files concerning the matter are to be processed through the chief secretary since he is the subject of inquiry and therefore, has a conflict of interest’ in separate memos to the vigilance director and divisional commissioner.

In response to the complaint made against him, the chief secretary has insisted that the actions are the result of ‘mudslinging’ by ‘disgruntled’ parties who are being watched closely.

On Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the complaint should be investigated and asked the vigilance minister to provide a thorough report on the situation.

According to Atishi’s note, the chief minister has received a complaint about the purchase of land in Bamnoli village for the Dwarka Expressway.

‘It has been alleged that the two landowners — Subhash Chand Kathuria and Vinod Kathuria — are family members of a business associate of the son of the current Chief Secretary of Delhi, Naresh Kumar,’ she said.

In May, two people received compensation of Rs 353 crore, or Rs 18.54 crore per acre, for 19 acres of land they had purchased in Bamnoli, from the then-district magistrate (South West Delhi), Hemant Kumar. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) purchased the land in 2018 in order to build the Dwarka Expressway.

‘DM, South West overturned a 2018 decision by the adjudicating authority, the additional district magistrate, granting compensation of Rs 41.52 crore for the same parcel of land, based on a valuation of Rs 53 lakh per acre,’ the note read.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently suspended Hemant Kumar, and the CBI was asked to look into the situation.

According to Atishi, Hemant Kumar’s involvement in the land acquisition in Bamnoli has already been investigated by the Vigilance Directorate.

Nevertheless, the chief secretary’s position has not yet been investigated. On the chief minister’s orders, an investigation has been launched into this, she stated.

Prior to this, the chief secretary had declared that prompt action was guaranteed against the implicated officer, including starting a CBI investigation.

The district magistrate of South West Delhi enhanced the first award of Rs 41 crore to Rs 353.79 crore on May 15. On June 2, Divisional Commissioner Ashwani Kumar brought the issue to the attention of the chief secretary.

The chief secretary gave the divisional commissioner instructions to keep an eye on the problem every two weeks and then requested that the Vigilance Directorate look into it further.

A CBI investigation and departmental action against the district magistrate were also suggested to the MHA on September 20 with Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena’s assent.

 

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