L-G office hiding facts on land scam probe: AAP

Saurabh Bharadwaj says House panel led by him investigated matter first; Saxena suspends two more officials

Even as Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena suspended two more officials on charges of corruption on Friday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the L-G of trying to “spin a narrative of a land scam in north Delhi to project Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a bad light”.

The allegation came in the wake of disciplinary proceedings being launched against four Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs), on the instructions of Mr. Saxena, over their alleged involvement in a land scam. The officials have been accused of “selling evacuee property to private entities for pecuniary benefits” during their tenure as SDM, Alipur, between 2015 and June 2021. One of the suspended officials was posted as a Deputy Secretary at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office.

AAP chief spokesperson and chairman of Privileges Committee of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Saurabh Bharadwaj, said the matter had been examined by the committee first but the L-G attempted to “hide this fact”.

“The L-G office did not tell the media the full reason for suspending the four SDMs and officers. I had raised the issue of the land scam in the Assembly during question hour,” Mr. Bharadwaj said.

“This isn’t a matter of corruption by the Deputy Secretary at the Chief Minister’s Office but illegally transferring government land as SDM; the L-G office should avoid spreading misinformation. The officers there are either misleading the L-G or he is voluntarily being misled,” he said.

During the investigation into the alleged land scam, Mr. Bharadwaj said, the committee had several times called upon the then Divisional Commissioner, Sanjeev Khirwar, and later the current Divisional Commissioner, K.R. Meena.The investigation revealed that the land in question measured over 500 bighas and was valued at over ₹500 crore, which a few SDMs had, over time, “managed to illegally transfer” to private parties.

“The then Divisional Commissioner, Sanjeev Khirwar, gave vague answers and the committee was not satisfied with the response of the department,” Mr. Bharadwaj said.