HC notice to Punjab on PIL seeking probe into scam in plot allotment by PSIEC officials

Chandigarh The Punjab and Haryana high court has put the Punjab government on notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking police probe into alleged plot

Chandigarh The Punjab and Haryana high court has put the Punjab government on notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking police probe into alleged plot allotment scam in Punjab State Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC), a body that the government owns. The petitioner, Satinder Singh, a Chandigarh resident, had told court that a legal notice was served on November 1, 2019, but the authorities had not acted so far.

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The court was told that vigilance probed the allegations and indicted various officers in its report of April 4, 2018, and in January 2019, the department recommended the registration of FIR. However, same has not been done so far.

The probe had concluded that PSIEC officers misused their position to get industrial plots allotted to their close relatives/friends/unknowns, which has caused financial loss to the tune of crores to the government. The probe report had indicted a dozen officials of the PSIEC, including some senior officers. It was reported that loss of ₹8.72 crore was incurred by the government just in the allotment of 18-20 plots.

“A big financial loss has been caused to the state exchequer by the fraudulent misdeeds of officers of PSIEC in connivance with their family members and peers, it would be in the fitness of things if the loss so caused to the state exchequer is recovered from the beneficiaries,” the court said, seeking a response from the government by April 23.