E-Paper
Punjab: Ex-chief secy Kaushal among three retd IAS officers get VB clean chit
No concrete evidence found against Kaushal, former special chief secy KBS Sidhu and ex-irrigation secy Kahan Singh Pannu, says bureau status report in HC
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has given a clean chit to three retired IAS officers, including former chief secretary Sarvesh Kaushal, in the multi-crore irrigation scam after a detailed inquiry failed to find concrete evidence substantiating allegations against them.
The scam involves fraudulent allotment of state water projects worth over ₹1,000-1,200 crore during the SAD-BJP regime (2007-2017). Tenders were allegedly tailor-made to favour a primary contractor, Gurinder Singh, in connivance with top department officials and politicians, causing massive losses to the state exchequer.
Apart from Kaushal, names of former special chief secretary KBS Sidhu and former irrigation secretary Kahan Singh Pannu have also been cleared after the probe.
The development came to light through a status report filed by the VB before the Punjab and Haryana high court on August 10, in compliance with the court’s May 15 order directing the state to complete the inquiry within 15 days.
The HC passed the direction after noting that the inquiry, initiated following approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, had remained pending for more than three years.
No witness supported bribery charges: Probe
The VB, in its report, stated that its scrutiny did not yield evidence to substantiate the allegations against the three retired bureaucrats.
The inquiry, registered as vigilance inquiry No. 08 dated September 29, 2022, was conducted by the bureau’s flying squad. Permission to investigate the three officers was granted in 2022 by then Punjab chief secretary BK Janjua.
According to the report annexed with the affidavit, the inquiry was registered solely on the basis of a disclosure statement made by accused Gurinder Singh on December 21, 2017, during the investigation an FIR dated August 17, 2017.
The FIR pertained to offences under Sections 406, 409, 420, 467, 471, 477-A and 120-B of the IPC, besides provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The VB found that none of the amounts allegedly mentioned in the disclosure statement was recovered. It also noted that the disclosure statement did not form part of the challan in the FIR.
The inquiry report observed that, in the absence of any recovery, the disclosure statement did not provide sufficient evidentiary basis to proceed against the three retired officers.
The bureau also scrutinised the police file, challans and witness statements but found that the allegations could not be tied to any specific time, place, date, month or year.
Further, no witness supported the bribery allegations, and no identifiable source of funds corresponding to the alleged huge sums could be established.
588 pages of investigation material examined
The original FIR resulted in 16 challans being presented before the court — nine main and seven supplementary challans — against 32 accused, including 26 government employees and six private individuals.
Before finalising its findings, the VB also examined 588 pages of investigation material collected in the case.
The inquiry additionally examined the functioning of the irrigation department and the role of senior officials and the political executive. The report records that the suspects included the secretary/chief secretary of the department, the minister in charge and personal assistants of two ministers.
However, the examination of official records and departmental procedures failed to establish a link between the three retired IAS officers and the alleged wrongdoing.
The bureau also examined the established tender and payment process in the department, from administrative and technical approval of estimates and preparation of the detailed notice inviting tender/bid document by the executive engineer to approval by the chief engineer, verification of the measurement book and bills, pre-audit and eventual release of payments to contractors.
No material emerged from the examination of these procedures and records to connect the three officers with the alleged irregularities.
The inquiry report was prepared by the joint director (crime), VB, and forwarded to the chief director of the bureau. The chief director subsequently forwarded it to the secretary, vigilance, Punjab government, on May 27 for a final decision.
The status report was filed before the high court by Jai Inder Singh Randhawa, deputy superintendent of police, VB, on behalf of the chief director, VB.
