Industrial plot transfer case: Punjab VB books ex-minister Sunder Sham Arora, IAS officer Neelima, 10 other officials
Mohali, January 5: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Thursday registered a criminal case against former state minister Sunder Sham Arora, IAS officer Neelima and 10 government officials for transfer and bifurcation of an industrial plot to a realtor company and allowing it establish township by cutting plots.
Three owners and partners of realtor firm Gulmohar Township Private Limited have also been booked. The industrial plot transfer case, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau has arrested seven officials of PSIDC. They are Ankur Chaudhary, Estate Officer; Davinderpal Singh, GM Personnel, JS Bhatia, CGM (Planning), Ashima Aggarwal, ATP (Planning); Parminder Singh, Executive Engineer, Rajat Kumar, DA, and Sandeep Singh, SDE, for allegedly conniving with each other to provide undue benefit to Gulmohar Township Private Limited.
A spokesperson for the VB said to promote the industry, the Punjab Government had allotted 25 acre to Anand Lamps Limited through a sale deed in 1987, which was later transferred to a firm named Signify Innovations.
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This plot was then sold to Gulmohar Township through a sale deed by Signify Innovations after procuring an NOC from the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC). On March 17, 2021, then Industry and Commerce Minister Sundar Sham Arora forwarded a letter to then MD, PSIDC, received from Gulmohar Township for further bifurcation of plots.
The spokesperson said the MD, PSIDC, constituted a departmental committee to examine the proposal of this realtor firm, which included SP Singh, Executive Director, Ankur Chaudhary, Estate Officer, Bhai Sukhdeep Singh Sidhu, Davinderpal Singh, GM Personnel, Tejveer Singh, DTP, (deceased), JS Bhatia, CGM (Planning), Ashima Aggarwal, ATP (Planning), Parminder Singh Executive Engineer, Rajat, DA, and Sandeep Singh, SDE.
The committee headed by SP Singh approved the proposal of the realtor firm to bifurcate plots from 12 to 125 without taking a notice of the proposal report, project report, articles of association and memorandum of association in this regard.
In addition to this, the committee had recommended the proposal of Gulmohar Township without consulting the Punjab Pollution Control Board, Municipal Corporation, Electricity Board, Forest Department, State Fire Brigade etc.
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During investigation by the Forensic Science Laboratory, it has also been found that two pages of the noting on the file didn't match with the rest of the pages attached in file. It was found that the above said committee members had attached fake documents and didn't not scrutinise the said application and proposal thoroughly.
The spokesperson further said according to the deed of 1987, this plot was to be used for industrial purposes only and Gulmohar Township had no such background.
According to the rules of the PSIDC, the fee for plots was to be charged at the rate of Rs 20 per yard and Rs 3 per year from 1987, which was a total fee of Rs 1,51,25,000 for a total of 1,21,000 square yards.
It was astonishing that the accused firm had already attached a pay order of Rs 27,83,000 with the application while no one from the PSIDC had demanded it. Due to which the Punjab Government had incurred a financial loss of Rs. 1,23,42,000.
The spokesperson informed that during the probe, it was found that if this plot was to be sold as per the instructions and rules of the state government, the government would have got an income of Rs 600 crore to Rs 700 crore.
At the time of sale of 125 plots by Gulmohar Township, no proposal report, project report, articles of association and memorandum of association were demanded from any buyer and sold all plots illegally.
By doing this, the above committee members, including IAS Neelima, then MD, and former minister Sundar Sham Arora colluded with each other and misused their official positions to give unfair advantage to the owners and directors of Gulmohar Township Company Jagdeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Rakesh Kumar Sharma.
In this regard, the VB has registered a case under Section 13 (1) (a), 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 409, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120-B of the IPC at the VB police station Mohali, Punjab, against all the above mentioned accused officers/officials of committee members of PSIDC, Neelima and former minister, besides three directors of Gulmohar Township. The role of other persons would also be investigated during the investigation, he added.
- With inputs from our correspondent
