Another bureaucrat, this time the chief of the Delhi government’s Urban Development, has been accused of graft in the midst of the tussle for control over the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) between the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party dispensation.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-appointee Chetan B Sanghi, who currently occupies the post of Secretary, Urban Development, in addition to two similar portfolios, has been accused of “irregularities in the conversion of land use without seeking prior approval” by an RTI activist and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Vivek Garg.
It is pertinent to mention that Mr. Garg, an advocate by profession, had unsuccessfully contested this year’s Assembly polls as a BJP candidate from Model Town.
Though he could not be reached for comment, sources at his office told The Hindu that Joint Commissioner of Police (ACB) Mukesh Meena had given his go-ahead for a preliminary enquiry (PE) into the complaint against Mr. Sanghi.
According to an ACB source, Mr. Sanghi, who was among three senior bureaucrats hand-picked for the post of Delhi Chief Secretary by Mr. Kejriwal, is accused of not seeking the Lieutenant-Governor’s go-ahead for the conversion of “significant portions of land from leasehold to freehold” while at the helm of the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) in 2012.
Mr. Garg’s contention, the source said, was that Mr. Sanghi did not seek a nod from the L-G office for the purpose despite the fact that the land, which allegedly belonged to the Delhi Development Authority , was a subject under the jurisdiction of that office as per the Constitution. According to a senior ACB official, “this was not the first time Mr. Garg” had alleged corruption against a serving bureaucrat of the All India AGMU cadre. Investigation, though, is under way by the ACB.
