Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 20: Anticorruption Bureau Jammu has presented challan against ex-JMC Commissioner Kiran Wattal and others under Prevention of Corruption Act and 120-B RPC.
According to the ACB, a complaint was received mentioning that Pardeep Kumar and Kuldeep Kumar had been granted building permission for raising residential as well as commercial structure at Ghumat Chowk, Jammu against the laid down procedure by the Municipal Corporation Jammu.
During the course of verification, it was found that applicants Pardeep Kumar and Kuldeep Kumar had initially applied for building permission on 18.03.2014. However, on 23.04.2014 they again submitted their case with a revised building plan.
On scrutiny of records, it came to light that while their case for issuance of NOC was under process and the then ACR Jammu, AC Nazool and Town Planning Section raised strong objections to the effect that the land was a temple land and there was no revenue entry recorded in the name of the applicants and that there was only one attested lease deed with cuttings and no Khasra number was mentioned.
Moreover, the case was not referred to UTEIC as suggested by the Town Planning Wing etc and because of these observations the building permission was not granted online in favour of the applicants. However, surprisingly the Senior Town Planner Farzana Naqshbandi recommended and forwarded the case of the applicants to the then Municipal Commissioner Jammu Kiran Wattal, who approved the building permission without referring the same to BOCA or UTEIC and even did not consider the objection raised by ACR Jammu and AC Nazool deliberately and with malafide intentions, which were manifest as the Municipal Commissioner on the last day of his posting issued the building permission in favour of the beneficiaries, illegally.
The verification further found that applicants had shown the total plot area as 2635 Sq.ft in their application as a single entity and as per the approved plan, they were allowed to construct lower ground floor, front floor, upper, 1st floor as commercial measuring 999 sq.ft each and 2nd floor measuring 999 Sq. ft as residential keeping the remaining 1636 Sq.ft land as vacant, but on the spot no such land was left vacant as the entire area was brought under construction.
The inspecting officer too submitted a false report that there was a GI shed measuring 16’6″ X 35′ being used for making Pawas (wooden pillars) and proposed construction was yet to be raised on the plot area 2635 Sq.ft but as per the documents of lease deed dated 26.09.86 there were two different site plans, one where the construction was going on and the other measuring 643.50 Sq.ft was adjoining Hotel Vardhman, though on the contrary, the piece of land where the construction was going on was adjoining Hotel Vardhman with no vacant land and no space for parking as was prescribed in the site plan.
The verification further found that the land in question was basically state land and was acquired by Rani Blori Temple during the rule of Maharaja, however, the officers simply relied upon the lease deed which had visible cutting with no specific Khasra number and granted the permission in favour of the applicants illegally thereby conferring huge pecuniary advantage on them as the permission in question facilitated them to raise a huge commercial structure at a prime location.
On overall consideration of all the evidence collected during the course of investigation, offence under Prevention of Corruption Act and 120-B RPC was established against Kiran Watal, Farzana Naqshbandi, Kuldeep Kumar and Pardeep Kumar, sons of Shanti Parkash of Ustad Mohalla, Jammu.
As accused Kiran Wattal and Farzana Naqshbandi have retired from Government services, as such, there is no requirement of obtaining prosecution sanction from the competent authority, whereas accused beneficiary Kuldeep Kumar expired on 11-05-2021. Therefore, chargesheet has been produced against the accused persons with a prayer that they may be put to trial.
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