Multi-crore hoardings, IEC material purchase scam
HC to ascertain status of probe in earlier FIR on Feb 27
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Feb 13: In the much publicised multi-crore flex hoardings and Information Education and Communication (IEC) material purchase scam, State Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has lodged another FIR under Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act against two former Directors of the Rural Development Department Jammu, Assistant Commissioner Development (ACD) Jammu and District Panchayat Officers (DPOs) of Jammu, Samba and Kathua.
As per the FIR No.7/2019, the copy of which has been managed by EXCELSIOR, a Joint Surprise Check was conducted by the State Vigilance Organization (now Anti-Corruption Bureau) into the allegations that the officers of the Rural Development Department without calling tenders bestowed works related to the installation of flex hoardings depicting the progress achieved in different works, to the blue eyed persons in their respective areas.
“In the process these officers released payment of Rs 90,000 per hoarding against the actual cost of Rs 20,000 thereby causing loss to the State exchequer in sheer abuse of their official position”, the Anti-Corruption Bureau has mentioned in the FIR.
During Joint Surprise Check records were obtained, scrutiny of which revealed that during the financial year 2016-17, officers of the Rural Development Department in Jammu, Samba and Kathua namely M L Raina and R K Bhat, the then Directors of Rural Development Department Jammu, Shokat Mehmood Malik, the then ACD Jammu, Deepak Dubey, District Panchayat Officer Samba, Anirudh Rai Sharma, District Panchayat Officer Jammu and Pardeep Kumar, District Panchayat Officer Kathua at their own free will and without authorization allocated and executed different works related to preparation/installation of flex boards, hoardings and banners under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee and Swacch Bharat Abhiyan Schemes for generating awareness among the people, without fulfilling the codal formalities.
It was also found that a substantial amount was also spent on the works related to paintings on walls through National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India, M/s Jammu Enterprises Channi Himmat and M/s Hashmi Enterprises Narwal Bye-Pass, which otherwise was a wasteful expenditure, the FIR said.
During probe and scrutiny of records, it came to the fore that an amount of Rs 1,99,00683 was booked as expenditure on the works relating to hoardings and paintings on the walls which were executed at highly exorbitant rates.
“The works related to hoardings and paintings were executed at the rate of Rs 415 per square feet and Rs 24 per square feet against the prevailing market rates of Rs 180 per square feet and Rs 16.70 per square feet as a result of which a loss of Rs 79,26,864 was inflicted on the State exchequer”, the Anti-Corruption Bureau said.
An amount of Rs 4,81,661 and Rs 5,44,754 totalling Rs 10,26,235 was also found spent by these officers on various non-existent works in two blocks of Kathua and Samba respectively. Thus, a cumulative loss amounting to Rs 89,53,909 was caused to the State exchequer.
“Strangely neither any purchase committee was constituted by the department nor tendering process initiated while incurring huge expenditure. Moreover, rate reasonability of the items was also not ascertained by these officers”, the ACB said, adding “these officers issued work orders pre-dominantly to same set of firms which were allotted works during the financial year 2015-16 with dishonest intentions to confer undue pecuniary advantages upon these firms thereby subverting the objective and purpose of different welfare schemes meant for the poor and needy people under MGNREGA”.
The facts, which emerged during Joint Surprise Check prima-facie disclose commission of criminal misconduct by officers of the Rural Development Department and others as such a formal case is registered under Prevention of Corruption Act and RPC, the Anti-Corruption Bureau said in the FIR.
Though the Anti-Corruption Bureau registered this FIR some days back yet the details of the same have not been reflected on its website till date for obvious reasons.
In the meanwhile, State High Court will ascertain the status of the investigation in earlier FIR in the scam on February 27, 2019.
On January 30, 2019, Justice Sanjay Kumar Gupta had issued notice to Anti-Corruption Bureau with the direction to file status report of the investigation of FIR No.8/2018 within three weeks. The direction was issued in a petition filed by R K Bhat, the then Director Rural Development Department Jammu.
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