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Summons to Delhi chief secretary on land deal involving official
The letter asked the chief secretary to respond to five specific questions related to Ashish More’s actions as DM (North), and whether his role should continue in light of the revelations
The petitions committee of the Delhi Assembly on Friday requested chief secretary Naresh Kumar to provide details about an alleged illegal land transfer in 2013 in Jhangola village, north Delhi, when Ashish More was the DM (district magistrate) north.
On June 16, Sunil Dutt Sharma, deputy secretary (legislation), wrote a letter to the chief secretary, asking him to appear before the committee. However, the date and time will be communicated separately, Dutt said in the letter. The letter also highlighted that the land in question, currently valued at ₹50 crore, was identified as evacuee property during the committee sitting held on June 14.
“A sitting of the Committee on Petitions was held on 14.06.2023 where Ashwani Kumar, divisional commissioner, and Ashish More, both appeared and deposed on oath. During the committee sitting, it was admitted that the land in question was an evacuee property,” the letter said.
The letter said that evacuee property is exempt from the Delhi Land Reforms (DLR) Act, 1954, adding that it is legally established that ownership of evacuee land cannot be transferred under the DLR Act or any other legislation.
The letter asked the chief secretary to respond to five specific questions related to Ashish More’s actions as DM (North), and whether his role as the staff officer to chief secretary should continue in light of the revelations, especially when the chief secretary is also the chief vigilance officer.
The letter instructs the chief secretary to provide the requested information by June 21 to present before the committee members and to appear before the committee on the next scheduled date, to be announced subsequently.
Ashish More, currently serving as the staff officer of the chief secretary, has previously faced conflicts with the elected government over various issues, including a transfer ordered by services minister Saurabh Bharadwaj after the Supreme Court granted the elected government the authority to oversee bureaucrats on May 11.
Chief secretary Kumar did not respond to requests for comment.
