Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 21: Special Judge Anticorruption Jammu Sonia Gupta today denied pre-arrest bail to seven officers including Additional Deputy Commissioner and two Assistant Commissioners of Development, who were allegedly involved in MGNREGA funds scam worth crores of rupees.
These officers are Noor Alam, Assistant Commissioner Development Rajouri, Mukhtar Ahmed, Assistant Commissioner Development Poonch, Suram Chand Sharma, GM DIC Udhampur, Basharat Hussain, Additional Deputy Commissioner Poonch, Shafiq Ahmed, Additional Deputy Commissioner Kotranka-Kalakote, Zaffar Ahmed Banday, Deputy District Election Officer Jammu and Majid Jahangir, the then DPO.
After hearing CPO Rajesh Bakshi for the Vigilance Organization whereas Advocate Waheed Choudhary for the applicants, Special Judge Anticorruption observed, “anticipatory bail is an extra ordinary privilege and can be granted only in exceptional circumstances where court has prima-facie view that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the crime”.
“The grant of bail depends upon nature of offence and the manner in which it is committed and its impact on society at large. It further depends on the reasonable possibility of applicants’ presence being secured during investigation and trial”, court further observed, adding “the probable misuse like intimidation to the complainant or the witnesses also cannot be lost sight”.
The court further said, “a wise exercise of judicial power inevitably takes care of evil consequences which are likely to be flow out of its intemperate use. Every kind of judicial discretion, whatever, may be nature of matter, in regard to which it is required to be exercised, has to be used with due care and caution. The discretion is required to be exercised with reasonable foreseeable consequences of its use”.
According to the Vigilance case, on March 27, 2018 simultaneous raids were conducted in the house/ office premises of five officers and relevant record pertaining to some purchases made during 2015, 2016 and 2017 for the department, personal laptops/ computers besides details/ documents related to properties/ FDRs etc was seized.
Finally, FIR was registered against present Director of Rural Development Department R K Bhat, former Director M L Raina, one serving and two former ACDs, four District Panchayat Officers and one General Manager of NCCF, DC Saxena. A private agency M/s Hashmie Enterprises operating from Bathindi in Jammu was also booked for this multi-crore scandal in the Rural Development Department.
During scrutiny of records, it was established that Directors of RDD placed supply orders with selective firms worth crores of rupees without observing codal formalities and without receipt of proper indents from subordinate formations/ officers of RDD in the districts. The Directors under a well-knit and pre-designed conspiracy hatched with their subordinate officers duly facilitated by NCCF Jammu head DC Saxena and others purchased various items including flex hoardings, tree guards, tiles, file covers, job cards, dust bins etc without ascertaining the rates reasonability.
It was also established that ACDs and DPOs purchased some of the items pre-dominantly from same set of firms in similar fashion, without observance of codal formalities. Scrutiny of the record further revealed that supply orders were split and placed before the firms hurriedly and in a haphazard manner with dishonest intention to obtain pecuniary advantage, which is evident from the fact that most of the items have been purchased on highly exorbitant rates.
It was also found during joint inspections that works related to wall paintings/ slogan writings have been carried out repetitively in short intervals which is a wasteful expenditure. The public servants were found to have abused their official position by making purchases on highly exorbitant rates defeating the purpose enshrined in the welfare schemes meant for poor and needy people under MGNREGA.
Not only this, the officers made purchases from the NCCF which was banned by the State Government during 2004 involving middle men as modus operandi to fill their own coffers.
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