Uproar in Chandigarh MC house meeting over Rs 116-crore Smart City scam

The general house meeting of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MCC) on Wednesday erupted in uproar over the alleged Rs 116-crore Chandigarh Smart City fund scam. Opposition councillors presented documents detailing the alleged irregularities and the actions taken on the issue so far, while Congress councillors staged a protest holding posters.

Earlier, Congress councillor Gurpreet Singh raised concerns about the demolition drive carried out by the Chandigarh Housing Board in Sector 45, alleging that encroachments in houses of the wealthy were being ignored. He appealed to all members to oppose the demolition drive. In response, Mayor Saurabh Joshi said all parties were unanimous on the issue. Singh also alleged that garbage from other sectors was being dumped in Sector 45.

Amid the uproar, former Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla took a moment to congratulate the Prime Minister on the upcoming Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament.

MCC officers said that following the revelation of the scam in Haryana, the commissioner had written to the police to investigate any involvement of Smart City and IDFC Bank officials. According to the reports, a total of 11 fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) worth Rs 116 crore were prepared in the bank between March 28 and April 6, 2025, for a one-year period.

When the Haryana scam came to light, MCC officers approached IDFC First Bank in Sector 32, Chandigarh, requesting the encashment of FDRs provided by Anubhav Mishra, an outsourced accountant and custodian of the FDRs. However, the bank stated that the FDRs did not appear in its system and were declared fake. The bank also reported that over Rs 8 crore had been transferred to three companies.

The officers said that in addition to suspending two employees involved, a recommendation had been made for a special audit of the entire Smart City fund to the administration.