Eight months on, Amritsar land scam report put in cold storage

Tribune News Service

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, April 6

On July 28, 2022, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats Kuldeep Dhaliwal submitted a report related to the Amritsar land scam to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, but no action has been taken against officials and politicians indicted so far.

Opinion of AG must

There was an important legal point. Whether the outgoing minister could clear the file on March 11, when the code of conduct was in force? So opinion of the Advocate General was necessary. — A Venu Prasad, Additional Chief Secy to CM

Those indicted in report

• Tript Rajinder Bajwa, ex-Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats: Gave approval on March 11, 2022, despite being a part of a caretaker government
• Rahul Bhandari, ex-Financial Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayats: On March 11, 2022, he forwarded the file “personally” to the minister who gave approval on the same day
• Manpreet Singh, ex-Director, Rural Development and Panchayats: He ignored his senior’s instructions to get fresh panchayat resolution. The file was reportedly lying with him from December 2, 2021, but he moved it for approval on March 7, 2022, when the code of conduct was in place
• Joginder Kumar, Deputy Director, Rural Development and Panchayats: Responsible for charging two-year-old collector rate from the coloniser, which led to a significant loss to the exchequer
• Jagwinderjit Singh Sandhu, Deputy Director, Rural Development and Panchayats: Allegedly facilitated the developer to grab around nine kanal worth Rs 51.11 lakh without paying a single penny

Sources said the report was sent back to the minister in December 2022, with one-and-a-half page order asking to take the Advocate General’s opinion on the issue and whether the outgoing minister could clear the file on March 11, 2022, when the Assembly poll results were out and code of conduct was still in place. Some other observations include the collector rate fixed by the Deputy Commissioner.

The matter pertains to Bhagtupura village in Amritsar district, where 42 kanal and 16 marla of prime panchayat land was given to Alpha International City Colony at “throwaway” prices.

Dhaliwal had exposed the scam in May last year and even held a press conference in Amritsar. Subsequently, he had constituted a three-member inquiry committee.

The inquiry report submitted to the CM in July 2022 had found that “unnecessary haste” was shown by former minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa and two senior IAS officers in giving the panchayat land to a private coloniser even when the model code of conduct was in force and the Congress had already lost the Assembly poll.

Apart from Tript Bajwa, Deputy Directors — Joginder Kumar and Jagwinderjit Singh Sandhu — were also indicted for fixation of low collector rate and “gifting” 10 kanal by misguiding the department to the private coloniser.

Dhaliwal had claimed that as a former Cabinet Minister and two IAS officers were involved, it was the CM’s prerogative to take action. “I have submitted the report to him,” he said.

Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister A Venu Prasad said the report had not been diluted. “There was an important legal point. Whether the outgoing minister could clear the file on March 11, when code of conduct was in force? So opinion of the Advocate General was necessary. Any wrong decision can have serious implications in future,” he said.

Dhaliwal did not answer the calls despite repeated attempts.

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