Six Delhi civic body officials suspended for graft, dereliction of duty

The suspensions are in line with the Saxena’s resolve of zero tolerance to corruption and probity in administration, his office said.

In the latest crackdown against corrupt government officials, six employees of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi were suspended on Tuesday on orders from lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on account of taking bribes, abusing their official position and neglecting their duties,

The Civic Centre in central Delhi, which housed the headquarters of the South and North MCDs, is the new home for the unified MCD. (File photo)

The lieutenant governor also allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation to prosecute a sun-registrar of Delhi government’s revenue department for illegally regularizing at least 50 unauthorized constructions in Karol Bagh.

“The MCD commissioner on directions of the LG has suspended six officials that includes superintendent engineer, A S Yadav, administration officer, Manish Kumar, deputy controller of accounts, Anju Bhutani, zonal inspector, Vijay Kumar, junior engineer (Narela), Sankhya Mishra, and assistant engineer (Narela), Sriniwas, for gross negligence, abusing official position and receiving illegal gratification,” Saxena’s office said in a statement.

The suspensions are in line with the Saxena’s resolve of zero tolerance to corruption and probity in administration, his office said.

Sriniwas and Mishra were suspended for failing to prevent unauthorized construction that recently led to the collapse of an under-construction warehouse in Bakauli village of Alipur, which left five dead and several others injured, according to a note from the lieutenant governor’s office shared with the media.

Yadav was suspended for financial irregularities in Balaswa landfil; Manish Kumar and Vijay Kumar were suspended for delaying the processing of papers for mutation of properties in the south zone; and Bhutani was suspended for not following up with banks matters related to clearance of pensions, the note said.

Saxena also permitted CBI to prosecute Raj Pal, sub-registrar III at Asaf Ali Road, for registering unauthorized properties without affixing the requisite stamp of unauthorized construction on the sale deeds. Pal had registered 50 such properties between July 2015 and September 2018.

Pal is also accused of taking bribes to register commercial and residential properties in Karol Bagh. A district magistrate and the principal revenue secretary had in their separate reports recommended the prosecution sanction to CBI to investigate the wrongdoings of Pal, Saxena’s office said.

Since taking charge in May, the lieutenant governor has ordered the suspension of several officials, including one was posted in the past as a deputy secretary in the chief minister’s office, on charges of alleged corruption.

Complaints of corruption against officials of Delhi government, Delhi Development Authority and the municipal corporation are being decided strictly on the basis of merit, an official at the lieutenant governor’s office said.

“While the lieutenant governor has taken strict action in many such complaints, he has also rejected some of the complaints on finding no substantial ground for prosecution,” the official said, declining to be named.

Meanwhile, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, the slum management agency of the Delhi government, found irregularities in the work record of nine officers and suspended two officers including executive engineer P Saraswat who is accused of irregularities in parking site at Shivaji Palace, Raja Garden, which resulted in loss of revenue to the department, and issued show cause notice to seven officers, chief executive officer K Mahesh said.