Delhi LG Orders Suspension of 6 MCD Officials for Graft, Allows CBI Prosecute Sub-registrar: Sources

Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has ordered the suspension of six Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials on graft charges and for abusing official position, sources in his office said on Tuesday.

They said Saxena also gave sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute a sub-registrar for allegedly regularising unauthorised constructions in Karol Bagh.

“The MCD commissioner, on directions of the LG, has suspended six officials for gross negligence, abusing official position and receiving illegal gratification,” a source said. The sources also said complaints of corruption against officials of the MCD, the Delhi government and the Delhi Development Authority are being decided singularly on merit.

Superintendent Engineer AS Yadav, Administrative Officer, Manish Kumar, Deputy Controller of Accounts Anju Bhutani, South Zone Inspector Vijay Kumar, Junior Engineer (Narela) Sankhya Mishra and Assistant Engineer (Narela) Sriniwas are the suspended officials, the sources said. They said Sriniwas and Mishra have been suspended for failing to prevent an unauthorised warehouse. The structure, which was under construction in Alipur’s Bakauli village, collapsed killing five people and injuring several others.

Bhutani has been suspended for not following up with banks in matters related to clearance of pension cases. Yadav has been suspended for financial irregularities in the sanitary landfill site in Balaswa while Manish Kumar and Vijay Kumar are suspended for delaying the processing of papers for mutation of properties in south zone.

In a separate decision, the LG also gave sanction to the CBI to prosecute a sub-registrar at the revenue department for “illegally regularising” at least 50 unauthorised constructions in Karol Bagh zone. “Raj Pal, posted as sub-registrar-III at Asaf Ali Road, is accused of registering unauthorised properties without the requisite stamp of unauthorised construction on the sale deeds. He had allegedly registered 50 such properties from July 21, 2015, to September 26, 2018,” a source said.

Pal was also accused of registering commercial properties in residential category in Karol Bagh zone “in lieu of illegal gratification” and thus causing loss to the government, he said. “The district magistrate (central) and principal secretary (revenue), in their separate reports, had recommended the prosecution sanction to CBI to investigate the wrongdoings of Raj Pal,” the source said.

Earlier this month, Saxena had given his nod to CBI investigation against a former sub-registrar of Hauz Khas for sale of government land measuring over eight bighas in the Saidul Ajaib area worth crores of rupees in December 2019. The LG had also approved an enquiry by the Anti-Corruption Bureau against a junior engineer of the Public Works Department for taking bribe.

Last month, five officers – an assistant district magistrate, two sub-divisional magistrates, a sub-registrar and a deputy secretary of the Delhi government – were suspended on the LG’s instructions over land-related “scams” in north and south Delhi.

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