EOs transfer day before code kicks in raises many eyebrows

Our Correspondent

Abohar, March 10

The list of 18 Executive Officers (EOs) transferred by the Local Government Department on Saturday, a day before the Election Commission’s announcement of the poll schedule, has courted a controversy.

Executive Officer Jagsir Singh Dhaliwal, who was indicted in the inquiry report submitted by IAS officer RC Nayyar (retd) on August 10, 2018, to A Venu Prasad, Principal Secretary of the department, was among the three ex-EOs who were indicted in a property scam and they were served charge-sheets also.

But Dhaliwal, deployed at Gidderbaha and having additional charge of the Malout civic body, has also been given additional charge of the Abohar MC relieving Rajnish Kumar of the additional charge.

The Abohar MC has recently been told to explain how much loss the civic body incurred due to the acts of indicated former EOs. The reply is to be now submitted by Dhaliwal who was in the dock.

It surfaced during the final hearing given to ex-EO Bhushan Singh Rana that he had reportedly managed to get pension benefits released despite action being recommended in the Nayyar inquiry report. Bhushan Aggarwal was another ex-EO who was indicted in the inquiry report. Rana and Aggarwal had retired.

The state government had ordered inquiry into alleged property scam that surfaced in 2010 when Shivraj Goyal of the BJP was president and Dhaliwal was posted as EO. The Retired Municipal Employees Welfare Association had lodged a complaint that terms and conditions of auction of commercial plots were fraudulently changed by forging signatures to benefit some allottees. The Vigilance had registered a case against clerk Jaspal Singh and later against Shiv Raj Goyal, but both got bail from court.

In the inquiry report, Nayyar said: “It stood established that Jagsir as EO failed to place on file auction conditions, work out instalments of the property to be deposited by the bidder along with interest and got entered the data in the property register maintained by the MC which led to entire bungling in the change of conditions of auctio. He was negligent in allowing the staff under him to get the amount deposited on their own without having any approval from him.”

Indicted in probe, official again gets posting 

• Executive Officer Jagsir Singh Dhaliwal was among three ex-EOs who were indicted in a property scam and were served charge-sheets also. 
• But Dhaliwal, deployed at Gidderbaha and having additional charge of the Malout civic body, has also been given additional charge of the Abohar MC relieving Rajnish Kumar of the additional charge.