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| BJP workers protest against the role of officials and politicians in the booth scam in Chandigarh. |
The magisterial probe conducted by Shergill, was ordered by none other than the UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil, following which the report, running into around a 1,000 pages, was submitted by Shergill to the UT Administration. The report has yielded no action from the authorities.
Sources disclosed that even the UT's Legal Remembrancer, in his opinion, given to the UT Administration, has recommended a registration of a criminal case, against 10 UT Estate Office officials, but still no action has been taken. However, the LR's opinion, almost exonerated the top politicians and police officers, named in the report, in absence of any substantial evidence to prove their involvement in the entire scam.
A dozen files pertaining to the multi-crore rupee fraud on allotment of booths (small shops) in the city, which have been stated to be missing from the UT estate
office, are not the only documents that have been “misplaced”.
According to sources, the office has been unable to trace the entire record maintained in the runup to the issue of handcart and hawkers’ licences prior to the fire in
the Bajwara ‘rehri’ market on May 23, 1989.
The licences were issued in 1986-87 to ‘rehriwallas’ and ‘pheriwallas’ carrying out their trade in the market at that time. Subsequently, in 1991, these licences were
converted into “provisional allotment” identity cards.
Sources said the estate office had no records of how and on what basis these licences were issued. “Every year, a survey was conducted to check whether genuine people
were running their business in the Bajwara market. But all the records are missing,” source added.
On the other hand, Dinesh Kumar Sood and Nathu Ram, the aggrieved party in the alleged fraud, claimed the relevant files were there in the estate office six years
earlier. “In 2005, while we were pursuing the case, I saw all the files related to the issuance of licences in 1986-87. I am sure about there being foul play behind
the missing records,” alleged Sood.
Giving his reasons, he claimed the estate officials at the time used to issue licences to their “favourites” by adopting “unfair means”. “Conducting regular surveys
and screening licence holders were tools for these unscrupulous officials to mint money,” he alleged.
Sources said the 12 files that former Additional Deputy Commissioner PS Shergill mentioned in his report as “missing”, were in fact there in the estate office.
“The inquiry officer had asked for the files to be to handed over for the probe before January 13. But these files were in process and somehow couldn’t be submitted to
the inquiry officer before the deadline,” claimed an official on a condition of anonymity.
Shergill was relieved from his charge as the Additional Deputy Commissioner on January 14, he added.
The top officials of the UT Administration, who have kept mum on the entire issue, are not ready to divulge any details on the present status of the inquiry report, submitted by Shergill.
While the administration is sitting on the inquiry report, pertaining to the entire scam, which is assumed to run in the crores, the alleged 'illegal beneficiaries' of the scam, have already sold off the booths and vanished.
Shergill's inquiry report had categorically mentioned that the people, who had initially benefited because of the 'erroneous' allotments of booths in the Krishna Market, Sector 41 of Chandigarh, had already sold off the booths to other people, making the entire issue more complicated.
SOURCES : Indian Express
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