Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 29: The J&K Government has removed Municipal Committee (MC) Bishnah president, Rajan Sharma from his office for abusing his official powers.
In a notification in this regard, Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development Department of J&K Government stated that in exercise of powers conferred by Section 26 of the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Act, 2000, the Government has removed the MC President with immediate effect.
The abuse of official powers by the MC president came to fore after an enquiry triggered by a petition before J&K High Court by one Sunny Sharma of Bishnah seeking directions to J&K Government for clearance of liability for works completed by him at an expenditure of Rs. 3,73,100 in Municipal area of Bishnah.
Report of the enquiry stated that mandatory prescription of obligatory functions in terms of PWD manual have been bypassed in the year 2019 itself as these works have been executed on verbal instructions of the president MC Bishnah departmentally without any authority and jurisdiction against which even the payment has also been released.
It further said that the work has never been checked by the concerned engineering wing which is the competent authority to check the execution of work through proper tendering process.
The report further stated that the copies of bills/supply orders and muster sheets annexed with the writ petition, against which the alleged work done claim projected by the petitioner, are not in records of MC Bishnah.
“The work orders of different dates issued by the president MC Bishnah are without any authority and jurisdiction and the same have been found without any dispatch number of the MC Bishnah and as such cannot be construed as office document issued by the Municipality.
The date wise bills mentioned against which the petitioner is claiming alleged payment of the goods supplies/material used for construction of lane and drain in question, have been found having cuttings in the dates column of the each bill.
The enquiry report mentioned that once the question of said lane and drain in question happened in the year 2019 and even the payment released from time to time the same year itself against the material supplied and labourers and masons engaged in construction work, though executed without any authority and jurisdiction, there is no occasion to again construct the same in the month of January 2020.
The Government notification claimed that the Inquiry Officer gave an opportunity to MC president to present his case/defence and the MC president submitted a written statement which was taken on record.
Finally the Inquiry Officer recommended that president MC Bishnah has acted in a manner unbecoming of a public servant and abused his official powers as the president of MC Bishnah and therefore is liable for action under relevant provision of J&K Municipal Act 2000.
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