Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 16: Chairman, Legislative Council, Amrit Malhotra today constituted a House Committee to investigate the allegations of grabbing of forest land by Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Taj Mohi-ud-Din.
People’s Democratic Party MLC, Murtaza Ahmad Khan is the Chairman of the House Committee while as Syed Mohammad Rafiq Shah, Dr Bashir Ahmad Shah Veeri, Khalid Najeeb Suharwardy and Bashir Ahmad Magray are its members. The Committee will submit its findings to the House by or before the next session of the State Legislature Budget Session 2013.
During the recent session of State Legislature, the Government in response to Syed Mohammad Rafiq Shah’s question had stated that there was no land under illegal occupation of any sitting Minister in the State.
This reply was contested by Rafiq Shah, who submitted a number of documents in support of his version demanding an inquiry into the matter by a House Committee. However, Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Taj Mohi-ud-Din strongly contested allegations as baseless and also submitted number of documents comprising communication of various revenue and forest officers and extracts from the revenue records.
After carefully going through the documents submitted by both sides in support of their stand on the matter, the Council Chairman found it appropriate to investigate the issue. “There is a strong prima facie case that warrants a thorough and detailed investigation by a Committee of this House,” Chairman Amrit Malhotra said in a three-page order.
“In the contemporary political environment, failure to constitute a committee to investigate the matter and establish the facts will be interpreted as an attempt to cover up and shield those whose probity has been challenged”, Mr Malhotra said in the order, adding “it will be fair to provide a chance to Taj Mohi-ud-Din, who claims innocence, and also to the concerned officers of Revenue and Forest Departments to put forth and prove their version before the Committee for thorough and impartial investigation”.
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