Punjab Vigilance Bureau files FIR against Moga ADC in Rs 3.7-crore highway project controversy

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has registered an FIR against Moga Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Charumita for alleged lapses in approving a Rs 3.7-crore compensation award for land along the Dharmkot–Shahkot section of National Highway-703.

VB SP Manjit Singh said the FIR has been filed under Sections 13(1)(a) and 13(7) of the Prevention of Corruption Act following findings of an inquiry conducted jointly by the Revenue and PWD departments.

The action comes weeks after the Public Works Department (PWD) chargesheeted Charumita in September and formally requested a Vigilance probe. On November 6, the state government had already ordered her suspension.

Officials said the land had originally been acquired in 1963 by PWD (B&R), Ferozepur, for road construction. However, during the highway widening project in 2014, the same land was treated as “newly acquired,” and in 2019, compensation worth Rs 3.7 crore was approved.

It is alleged that this award was granted without verifying the original 1963 acquisition records, which were reportedly missing at the time.

Since Moga district was part of Ferozepur in 1963, the disappearance of the old revenue records put the Ferozepur district administration under scrutiny. An FIR regarding the missing files was registered earlier this month following a complaint by the Deputy Commissioner, Ferozepur.

After Charumita’s suspension, the Moga district administration resumed its search for the missing archival files. On November 13, officials recovered the 1963 revenue record relating to the land originally acquired by PWD.

The rediscovery of the document has, according to senior officials, “opened a Pandora’s box.” Investigators now believe that multiple individuals may have fraudulently claimed and received double compensation—first for land acquired in 1963, and then again in 2019 as if it were newly acquired.

This alleged double-compensation nexus is said to have directly led to the suspension of ADC Charumita and the subsequent FIR registration.

SP Vigilance Manjit Singh said that the FIR against Charumita is based on departmental inquiry findings. Further investigations are ongoing to identify all beneficiaries, officials involved, and potential financial losses to the state exchequer.