Citrus council scam: HC seeks vigilance probe report

The Punjab and Haryana high court has sought a report pertaining to the vigilance bureau's investigation into the multi-crore scam in the Council for Citrus and Agri Juicing in Punjab. The court, during the resumed hearing on Monday, adjourned the case to October 7, when the bureau is expected to file a report.

The Punjab and Haryana high court has sought a report pertaining to the vigilance bureau's investigation into the multi-crore scam in the Council for Citrus and Agri Juicing in Punjab. The court, during the resumed hearing on Monday, adjourned the case to October 7, when the bureau is expected to file a report.

The bureau had in May informed the high court that a chargesheet had been drafted against former IAS officer RS Sandhu and serving bureaucrat Himmat Singh in the case. The bench was then informed that the chargesheet had already been forwarded to the chief secretary for necessary action.

On Monday, the court adjourned the hearing of the petition filed by Resurgence India, a Ludhiana-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), alleging the role of various top officers in the citrus council scam.

Hindustan Times had exposed the Rs 87-crore scam in March 2010 on the basis of more than 20,000 official documents procured under the Right To Information (RTI) Act by the NGO.

The Punjab police's crime branch had on February 3, 2011, lodged an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act, cheating and forgery against Vikramjit Singh Chimni (the council's former chief executive officer), Ekam Singh Dhillon (former senior manager), Gurpreet Singh Nain (former assistant general manager), the latter's wife Madhumita Nain, Seerat Dhillon, Navjot Singh, Rajinder Singh, Dr Vipin Kumar Saini, Uma Saini and Yogesh Dutta.