Civic body’s plea not tenable: CBI note

Rajinder Nagarkoti

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 3

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its note sent to the UT Administration in connection with the Uppal Housing scam in 2013, said the plea submitted by the Municipal Corporation in connection with dropping proceedings against the company was ‘not tenable’. 

The CBI note reads, “The information received has also disclosed that M/s Uppal Housing Pvt Ltd submitted its reply to the show-cause notice on September 29, 2011. 

In the reply M/s Uppal Housing Pvt Ltd took the plea that there was no condition for the construction of EWS flats and no specific area or other specification hd been stipulated in the zoning plan for the EWS flats. 

He further held that the firm had a period of 5 years from December 6, 2010 to December 5, 2015 to complete and obtain occupation certificate for the construction as per the revised sanctioned plan”.

The note further reads, “The proceedings were attended on September 28, 2011, October 14, 2011, October 20, 2011 and October 31, 2011 and finally were dropped by the Secretary, Municipal Corporation, on December 15, 2011” 

“While dropping the charges, the Secretary MC held that M/s Uppal Housing Pvt Ltd had time of 5 years till 2015 to complete the construction, including the EWS units, and further held that the Municipal Corporation was not apprised of this by the SDO (Building) or the Estate Office.

The plea of the Municipal Corporation is not tenable as the MC had already been apprised by the SDO (Building) about the revised building plan,”

CBI note reads: 

PAC of DC office granted extension of 5 yrs: Siwach

The then MC Secretary-cum-Additional Commissioner, Lalit Siwach, said, “It is a matter of record that it was the Plan Approval Committee PAC (Upper) of the DC office which granted an extension of 5 years till December 2015 to the company. Moreover, it was a quasi-judicial order”. He further said he had no role to play in this entire Uppal Housing case and moreover, everything, be it auction, allotment of land and construction of flats, everything was done before his taking over the charge of the estate branch in 2011. 

Contradictory replies from DC and MC offices to RTI query 

BJP councillor Satish Kainth had submitted two different RTI applications to the Estate office and the MC wherein he had asked , “Kindly supply all the copies of extension letter given to the society for the construction of flats”. Replying to this point, the Estate Office reply reads, “This point relates to the Municipal Corporation” whereas the MC reply reads, “No extension for the construction of flats was granted by the Municipal Corporation”.