Probe panels mere political game

SMA Kazmi

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 5

The recent statement of Minister for Agriculture and Horticulture Harak Singh Rawat that the government would act in the fish seed scam according to the Tripathi Commission report has once again brought into focus the politics of probe panels in the state.

Since the formation of the state in 2000, many commissions were set up to look into alleged corrupt deals and irregularities committed during the regimes of both Congress and BJP. However, no action was ever taken against any bureaucrat or politician allegedly involved in these scams. Politicians had been using these probe panels against each other.

Even before the state formally came into being in November 2000, there were allegations of bureaucrats indulging in corruption in declaring Dehradun as the interim capital of the state. It was the first scandal to rock Uttarakhand even before it was born.

After the formation of the first state Assembly, a house committee was formed to probe the allegations of misappropriation of funds and substandard work to build infrastructure for the new interim capital. Despite indictment by experts on the committee, no action was taken against the accused officials.

The first elected Congress government headed by veteran leader ND Tiwari from 2002 to 2007 faced allegations of corruption. During the 2007 Assembly poll, the BJP promised to probe the alleged corrupt deals of the Congress regime. The successive BJP government appointed a commission to look into the 56 alleged scandals that took place during the previous Congress government headed by Tiwari.

Justice BS Verma (retd) was appointed to probe the scandals. However, the probe panel failed to complete the inquiry in time even after many extensions. After Justice Verma left his job, Justice RS Sharma (retd) was appointed the panel head, but he also resigned.

Justice BC Kandpal (retd), who was the last to head the panel, could only complete the probe in 60 of the 68 cases referred to him.

The state government recommended action in 17 cases which were sent to the legal department for framing of charges against the guilty. Meanwhile, Justice Kandapl quit his job in November 2011. Nothing has been heard about the recommendations of the Kandpal probe panel since then.

The Congress also promised to look into the alleged corrupt deals of the BJP government headed by Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. After coming to power in 2012, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna appointed a one-man commission to probe the alleged scandals that came to light during the previous BJP government.

KL Bhatti, a retired IAS officer, was appointed chairman of a commission to probe into the fish seed scam. However, Bhatti quit and Justice Susheel Chander Tripathi was appointed the head of the commission to inquire into the alleged irregularities in eight cases, including the Citurgia land scandal of Rishikesh, allotment of hydroelectric projects, misappropriation of funds meant for Maha Kumbh in 2010 and the fish seed scam. The Tripathi panel submitted its report but nothing had been done on its recommendations.

Harak Singh Rawat's statement indicates that it was targeted at the BJP ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections.