Within a month of granting official approval to the former finance minister Manpreet Badal to start construction on twin plots whose allotment process is under the legal lens, the ‘embarrassed’ Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) has withdrawn its go-ahead.
Top BDA authorities swung into action after the Vigilance Bureau (VB) director shot a letter to the vigilance secretary last week to flag the glaring error committed by the urban development agency in approving construction to a case property in a graft case. The vigilance secretary then alerted the BDA authorities.
In his communication on September 4, the VB director stated: “The plots in question are a case property and the BDA authorities passed the maps of plots neglecting the legal procedure. MS Badal also neglected the legal procedure and started construction on the said plots.”
Officials said the role of the assistant estate officer Rakesh Kumar and law officer Amanpreet Singh of the BDA is under scanner in faux pas in a high profile matter.
BDA additional chief administration Lovepreet Kalsi said on Friday that notices have been served to Kumar and Singh seeking an explanation in the matter.
{{/usCountry}}BDA additional chief administration Lovepreet Kalsi said on Friday that notices have been served to Kumar and Singh seeking an explanation in the matter.
{{/usCountry}}Manpreet couldn’t be contacted for comment and calls and text messages to his phone remained unanswered. His key political aide and brother-in-law Jaijeet Singh Johal was also unavailable for comments.
As per the informed sources, the building plans of ex-FM’s disputed property were approved by the architect on August 12.
Officials familiar with the matter said that the BDA estate officer had earlier approached the VB’s Bathinda zonal office and the vigilance officials stated that the BDA should take any step as per rules about allowing construction on the said twin plots.
An official said that VB officials got a tip-off that the construction work had been resumed and it was validated by a vigilance official’s spot visit.
Bathinda VB authorities apprised its top brass about the matter immediately who then flagged the matter with the authorities.
Taking note of the serious anomaly, the BDA chief administrator Monika Rana on September 11 stepped in and revoked the building plans. She also ordered the suspension of any construction with immediate effect.
Rana has tasked the ACA Lovejeet Kalsi “to seek an explanation from the EO, BDA and law officer on why the requisite legal process was not followed in the case” and submit the report within seven days.
A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manpreet is facing a VB probe and was booked under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act on September 24 last year.
The anti-corruption investigation agency claimed that during his tenure as finance minister, between 2018 and 2021, Manpreet allegedly used political pressure and influence to buy two plots measuring 1,560 square yards in Model Town Phase-1 Bathinda near the TV tower, causing a loss of lakhs of rupees to the state exchequer. Punjab and Haryana high court granted an interim bail to Manpreet on October 16.