Home Secy seeks report from MC chief

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 31

A month after former Mayor Harphool Kalyan sought fresh probe into the study tour controversy, the UT Home Secretary has now sought ‘factual’ report on the study tour from the MC Commissioner.

Unhappy with the earlier probe conducted by MC Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta, who was also a part of the study tour, former Mayor Harphool Kalyan had written to the UT Adviser and Home Secretary and asked for a fresh probe.

Confirming the development, UT Home Secretary Anurag Aggarwal said despite the fact that the former Mayor had written an official note to the UT Administration yet he had sought a factual report on the study tour from the MC Commissioner since he was a part of the corporation.

“The MC Commissioner has been asked to submit the report at the earliest and only after getting the report, future course of action will be decided,” Anurag Aggarwal said.

The letter sent by Kalyan reads, “As the Mayor and councillors have no financial powers so we could not give financial approval to allot contract of the study tour to any company. The power vests only with the competent authority which is the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh”.

“The report submitted to him said the meetings were held in the office of the Mayor and MC Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta, which is duly signed by Chief Accounts Officer (CAO) Desh Raj, Executive Engineer Sham Lal. Both the officers, the CAO and XEN did not attend a single meeting and no minutes were recorded. The arrangement of the study tour and selection process were dealt by Rajiv Gupta, Joint Commissioner,” the letter further read.

“I, propose that the matter be examined and responsibility be fixed against the officers who allotted the contract to the travel agency without following the proper procedure,” the letter concludes.

Past report says...

The report prepared by the municipal corporation on the controversial study tour had stated that the travel agency was finalised by 11 councillors, including five from the Congress, five from the BJP and one from the SAD. The name of the agency was finalised at a meeting, which was held at the municipal corporation, Sector 17, on August 26. The report had also stated that BJP’s Leader of Opposition Arun Sood had not influenced the decision to award the study tour contract to Panchkula-based Konasth e-services Limited, which was owned by his relatives. The contract was given without inviting tenders. The travel agency is owned by Sanjeev Sood and Sahil Vaid, brother-in-law and nephew, respectively, of BJP councillor Arun Sood. The report also mentions that in the past study tour, no tenders were invited for finalising the travel agency. The MC only followed the past practice, the report states.