27 UT cops, 16 admn officials accused in corruption charges

[ganpat1956]

Chandigarh, July 19: AS many as 27 UT Police officials and 16 officials of the UT Administration have been charged in corruption cases. Leaving aside two police officials, Sub Inspector (SI) Jaswant Singh and Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Sunita Bakshi, who have been dismissed from service following court’s conviction orders, the remaining police officials are still under trial. The data was given by the departments concerned to H C Arora, a lawyer, who had sought information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

While a majority of those booked with corruption charges have been placed under suspension, there are those who have not even been suspended and have been given a clean chit in the departmental inquiries.

Inspector J S Cheema, booked on charges of corruption in the year 2003 for accepting Rs 50,000 as bribe, was not even placed under suspension and was given a clean chit by the department on September 20, 2006. However, the pursuing authority has still kept the case open till finalisation of a criminal case is registered against him.

Similarly, sub inspectors Gurmukh Singh and Sarwan Singh were charged in corruption cases in 2002 and 2003. The two were also not placed under any suspension and were given a clean chit in the departmental inquiry. While the judgment in the case of Sub Inspector Gurmukh Singh has been received and is under examine by the punishing authority, Sub Inspector Sarwan Singh is still an under trial.

Some of the other sub inspectors charged with corruption and placed under suspension are Om Parkash, booked on charges of corruption in 2002, Sub Inspector Raj Pal, Om Parkash (retired before time), who was booked in 2005, Jaswant Singh, booked in 2005, Mohinder Singh, booked in 2006 and Pyare Lal, who was booked in 2006.

On the other hand, 16 officials of the UT Engineering Department, Chandigarh, are also charged with corruption cases. While Jagdish Mitter, Superintending Engineer (SE) and K B Sharma, who were booked on charges of corruption by the CBI, have retired, there are others who are still working. While Harsh Kumar is posted as an executive engineer in Sub Division number 5, Junior Engineer Gurmeet Singh has been repatriated to PSEB on March 21, 1996.

Based on this information, Advocate Arora has filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The HC has issued notices to the UT Adviser, Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Chief Engineer.

The petitioner has sought impartial inquiry into the ‘strange’ procedure adopted by the IGP by retaining a considerable number of corrupt police officials in service, not withstanding the fact that their dismissal orders have already been issued.

But the said orders have been kept in abeyance, awaiting judgment in the criminal trial. The petitioner has also sought similar high-level impartial inquiry into similar strange procedure adopted by the Chief Engineer, Chandigarh, by revoking the suspension orders of 16 officials during the pendency of criminal cases against them under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The petitioner also sought remedial measures for ensuring corruption-free administration in the Union Territory.

27 UT cops, 16 admn officials accused in corruption charges