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Moga ADC Charumita suspended on eve of HC hearing in land acquisition case
Suspension ordered hours before Punjab and Haryana high court took up matter for hearing after stern observation on contradictory reports.
Moga additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Charumita Shekhar, a 2014-batch Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officer, has been placed under suspension for her role in a controversial land acquisition worth ₹2 crore in the district.
Taking cognizance of the Punjab and Haryana high court’s stern observations over contradictory reports in the land acquisition for a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project, Punjab chief secretary KAP Sinha ordered the PCS officer’s suspension on Thursday evening.
The high court is set to hear the case on Friday.
The court had earlier indicated its inclination to hand over the probe to an independent investigating agency in view of discrepancies in the inquiry reports.
Shekhar, who was also the municipal commissioner, had been chargesheeted for allegedly consenting to the land acquisition award worth ₹2 crore in Moga district.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in land demarcation and compensation under the NHAI project. The financial commissioner (revenue) had earlier ordered that a fresh demarcation be carried out in the presence of nominees from the chief director, Vigilance Bureau; PWD secretary and NHAI, under the supervision of Ferozepur deputy commissioner Deepshikha Sharma. Their report was different from the earlier reports.
Apart from Shekhar, two tehsildars involved in preparing and verifying the records have been chargesheeted. The VB probe into the case is underway.
Shekhar had earlier denied any role in granting the change of land use (CLU). “The sub divisional magistrate has no role in issuing or approving CLUs. The CLU was granted by Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA),” she had said, adding that the award money has not been released. “The award was never approved by the Ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), as required. The NHAI deposited the compensation amount, which remains untouched in the SDM’s account,” she had claimed.
The awardee has approached the court for release of compensation, while the Punjab government and the NHAI said that it was wrongly claimed as land was already acquired in 1963.
