Tug-of-war between IAS officers: Patiala DC shows he’s the boss

To tell him who the boss is, deputy commissioner Ramvir Singh has directed municipal commissioner PS Gill to demolish the illegal shops on the Gujarati Shiv Temple property in Dhillon Colony here.

To tell him who the boss is, deputy commissioner Ramvir Singh has directed municipal commissioner PS Gill to demolish the illegal shops on the Gujarati Shiv Temple property in Dhillon Colony here.

A fortnight ago, Gill had locked horns with the DC when the latter had marked an inquiry to subdivisional magistrate (ADM) Pooja Syal. Gill had written to the inquiry officer that he won’t show her the record over the “infringement of jurisdiction”. Gill was promoted to the IAS (Indian Administrative Service), while Ramvir is a direct-recruit IAS officer. Before being municipal commissioner at Patiala, Gill was Moga DC.

After joining Patiala, Ramvir had initiated many inquiries, including one against the district development and panchayat officer, and saved prime land worth Rs 30 crore from illegal leaseholders. A powerful Akali leader was behind the illegal construction and so the MC had ignored a series of complaints. The municipal commissioner is said to be close to that Akali leader.

SDM Pooja Syal concluded on the basis of revenue record and field inspection that the construction was illegal and the land belonged to Dharmarth Board. DC Ramvir, custodian of temple properties as ex-offico chairman of this board, ordered the inquiry based on an HT report of June 16. Still the MC took no action, and in two months, four shops came up on the occupied land. The MC sent the constructors a notice didn’t move in for demolition.

The SDM concluded that neither the property can be sold out, nor the occupants have any MC-approved building plan. Confirming that he had written to MC commissioner Gill, DC Ramvir said: “I have asked the MC to take action and also marked a copy to the Patiala SSP to seek backup.” Complainant Mohinder Kumar said pressure from influential people had led the MC to be “quiet about encroachment upon the temple property”. Gill could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.