THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Nov 16: The Delhi government has referred the case of an alleged Rs 850 crore land acquisition scam in the Dwarka Expressway project to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday.
Following Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s approval, the case was referred to both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Just a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal forwarded Vigilance Minister Atishi’s report on the alleged corruption charges against Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar in the Dwarka Expressway project to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, requesting the immediate removal and suspension of the bureaucrat, the referral to the CBI for the Rs 850 crore land acquisition scam was made by the Delhi government.
Accusations have been made against Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar for allegedly inflating land costs 22 times in order to benefit a company associated with his son Karan Chauhan.
The preliminary report, spanning 670 pages, revolves around a plot of land in Bamnoli village acquired by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the Dwarka Expressway project. It alleges that the company associated with Naresh Kumar’s son obtained the land for a mere Rs 75 lakh in 2015. The report alleges that this land acquisition was part of a larger scheme where prices were inflated, resulting in an illicit gain of Rs 850 crore.
As per Atishi’s report, it was evident that Naresh Kumar’s son had business ties with the landowners who were reaping the benefits. Events that have transpired after Naresh Kumar assumed the position of Chief Secretary raise the possibility that he has abused his authority to boost benefits to those associated with his son’s company.
The report points to “connections and chronology” that create suspicions of collaboration between Chief Secretary Kumar, District Magistrate (South West) Hemant Kumar, and the landowners engaged in the acquisition process.
“The investigations in the present matter have given rise to a reasonable suspicion that the Chief Secretary may have unduly favoured other companies in which his son is a director, or may have used his power and influence on other persons to accrue unlawful benefits to other companies in which his son is a director. However, this issue is being investigated and will be covered in another report and placed before the Chief Minister,” Atishi had stated earlier.
In an official statement, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar refuted the accusations made by Delhi minister Atishi.
The statement read, “Has anyone read the 650-page report of the Minister? On what basis such allegations are made, especially when the Chief Secretary joined only last year, i.e. 2022? A copy of the report is not shared. So on what basis can one respond or report…”
“If the landowners had purchased the land in 2015 at just 7 per cent of the market rate, what was done by the Chief Minister, Minister (Revenue), Minister (Vigilance) and the Officers concerned from 2015 till date? Whether there were any interests of these persons in such alleged undervalued sale/purchase?”, it added.
The Chief Secretary also called for a CBI and ED probe into the allegations.
“Let the CBI and ED also investigate such conspiracy being done by vested interests, including public authorities, to malign me, against whom action has been taken by me, including removal from services/posts, suspension, referring cases to ED, CBI and Delhi Police with the approval of the Competent Authorities for investigation,” he said.
