E-Paper
Chandigarh: GMSH-16 chemist arrested for fraudulent lease
After approval from Chandigarh adviser-cum-chief vigilance officer Dharam Pal, Jain, who ran the only chemist shop at GMSH-16, was booked under Sections 406, 419, 420 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 13 (1) b and (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act in May
Sunil Kumar Jain, who ran the only chemist shop at Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, for 29 years through multiple extensions and renewals, and at minimal rent as compared to market price, was arrested by the UT vigilance department on Friday.
After approval from Chandigarh adviser-cum-chief vigilance officer Dharam Pal, Jain was booked under Sections 406 (breach of trust), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 13 (1) b and (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act in May.
During investigation, vigilance discovered that Jain obtained the lease for this shop through fraudulent means and by providing false affidavits.
The shop was allotted to Jain on lease for only two years through an auction in 1993. Though the first lease ended in 1995, the hospital authorities never floated a fresh tender and continued to extend the lease every five years, with the latest extension occurring in 2019 – for up to 2024.
In a curious turn of events, the document pertaining to the granted extension mysteriously vanished, which is also part of the vigilance probe, along with identifying officers who played a part in facilitating the chemist.
For approximately 12 years, the shopkeeper illicitly encroached upon government land belonging to the hospital by demolishing the partition wall.
On February 15, the administration reclaimed the occupied area and restored the public passage in its place. However, UT’s attempts to vacate and freshly lease out the shop have remained unsuccessful with the chemist getting a stay from the Supreme Court in February.
