E-Paper
Pension disbursed to dead persons in Haryana: HC seeks affidavit from DG vigilance
The court has made it clear that in case the affidavits are not filed upon a comprehensive examination of the issue in its entirety, the court would be inclined to refer the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further investigation.
The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the director general, Haryana vigilance bureau, to file a comprehensive affidavit after going through the entire record and assessing the participation of the officer/official of the district social welfare department in a case of alleged disbursal of social security pensions to dead persons in the state. The DG has also been directed to assess the participation of officials at the directorate level, along with the public representatives/municipal councillors, who had identified the dead persons for seeking benefits of such illegal disbursement, about the involvement and also as to whether the investigating officers have deliberately not taken note of the evidence available on record.
The court also asked the principal secretary, department of social welfare, to file an affidavit giving details about the reasons for the delay in taking action on the report furnished by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) as well as the subsequent committees. “The affidavit shall also place on record the office noting files and giving details of the officials who delayed the file; the period during which it remained pending with them and all those officers who remained posted as directors or principal secretaries/ACS of the department,” the bench of justice Vinod S Bhardwaj ordered adding that he (principal secretary) was also required to furnish the details of the action to be taken against departmental officers, who were seemingly more interested in saving the violators and the illegal beneficiaries than performing their duties as per law.
The court has made it clear that in case the affidavits are not filed upon a comprehensive examination of the issue in its entirety, the court would be inclined to refer the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further investigation. Twelve weeks have been given to both officers and the matter adjourned for May 25.
The court was hearing a plea pending in the high court since 2017. Filed by one Rakesh Bains, the plea demanded a CBI probe and alleged that a large-scale scam in Haryana took place in which social welfare pensions were disbursed in the name of dead persons by state officials in connivance with local bodies’ elected representatives across the state.
The court noted that the CAG, as well as subsequent inquiry reports submitted by different inquiry committees, have concurrently reported large amounts of money which had been disbursed to ineligible persons. “….the aforesaid reports reflect the complacency of the officials of the department of social welfare, the respective municipal councillors as well as the illegal beneficiaries themselves,” it said, adding that it was surprising, the state admitted to 14,000 illegal beneficiaries but no action has been taken by way of criminal proceedings.
State’s counsel had argued that since the matter in question pertained only to Shahabad, hence, action was not taken against the violators of the law and the unlawful beneficiaries of the state.
“It is incomprehensible as to why the state chose to keep the file buried despite the aforesaid illegality having been brought to its notice by the petitioners. Another glaring instance which rattles the court and questions the intentions of the state is that even though the report implicated the persons who identified the dead beneficiaries, yet, they all have been cited as witnesses in the investigation conducted (in the case of Shahbad),” it said.
The court said that the CAG and committee had feared that officials have entered into an unholy nexus to squander the public funds and to retain undue benefits with themselves. “Such gross illegalities, once having been brought to the notice and duly acknowledged by the state in its reply, necessitated for an immediate retributive action against the violators, but it failed to activate the state agencies,” the court lamented giving last chance to the state authorities before it tasks CBI with the probe.
