E-Paper
Allotment of industrial plots: Punjab govt grants nod to prosecute 6 ex-PSIEC officials
The Punjab government has granted prosecution sanction against six officials of the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC) into the alleged irregularities in the allotment, regularisation, and bifurcation of industrial plots
CHANDIGARH : The Punjab government has granted prosecution sanction against six officials of the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC) into the alleged irregularities in the allotment, regularisation, and bifurcation of industrial plots.
On January 5 last year, the Punjab vigilance bureau (VB) registered an FIR against former minister and Congress leader Sunder Sham Arora, former MD of PSIEC Neelima and 10 others in connection with “wrong bifurcation” of a 25-acre plot in Industrial Focal Point, Mohali, to allegedly benefit realtor firm Gulmohar Township Private Limited and causing a huge loss to the state exchequer.
Prosecution sanction has been granted under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act against PSIEC’s former chief general manager SP Singh, former general manager Jaswinder Singh Randhawa, ex-sub-divisional engineer Savtej Singh, former estate officer Amarjit Singh Kahlon, retired consultant Darshan Garg and Vijay Gupta.
In April 2018, the VB started an inquiry into the alleged misuse of position by PSIEC officers and recommended the registration of a case under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act against officials.
According to the VB, the alleged modus operandi included allotment of prime plots in the name of relatives and friends of officials instead of genuine industrialists; allotment to bogus applicants; sharing data of genuine industrial allottees, who were not able to pay instalments due to demonetisation and Covid with unscrupulous persons; regularisation of plots at old rates instead of the prevailing market rates; adding names of new allottees in partnership deeds through forged deeds and transferring 100% share to new allottees illegally; and illegal bifurcation of plots. The changing dates of allotment and considering the intervening period as a ‘zero period’ for the purpose of calculating the extension fee applicable was also questioned.
A committee of three IAS officers also observed procedural gaps and irregularities thereby recommended disciplinary action against two officials – Jaswinder Singh Randhawa and Savtej Singh. The case was also referred to the Punjab advocate general, wherein it was pointed out that acts of the employees of the PSIEC involve an element of criminality.
The VB in its probe found that if these plots were to be sold as per the instructions/rules of the state government, the government would have got an income of ₹600 to ₹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, according to the VB probe.
The VB said the Punjab government allotted 25 acres to Anand Lamps Limited through a sale deed in 1987 which was later transferred to a firm Signify Innovations. This plot was then sold to Gulmohar Township through a sale deed by Signify Innovations after procuring a no objection certificate from the PSIDC. On March 17, 2021, then industries and commerce minister Sundar Sham Arora had forwarded a letter to the then MD of the PSIDC received from Gulmohar Township for further bifurcation of plots.
The committee headed by SP Singh had approved the proposal of the firm to bifurcate plots, from 12 to 125, without taking notice of proposal report, project report, articles of association and memorandum of association. The committee had recommended the proposal of Gulmohar Township without consulting Punjab Pollution Control Board, municipal corporation, electricity board, forest department, state fire brigade etc.
The VB said that according to the 1987 deed, the plots were to be used for industrial purposes but Gulmohar Township had no such background. According to the rules, the fee for plots was ₹20 per yard and ₹3 per year, and since 1987, the PSIEC should have got ₹151 crore for 1.21 lakh square yards. However, the firm already attached pay order of ₹27,83,000 with the application while no one from the PSIDC demanded it. Due to this, the Punjab government incurred a loss of ₹1.23 crore, the VB said.
