Delhi Lt Governor Rejects Minister's Report Seeking Official's Suspension

Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has turned down Vigilance Minister Atishi's proposal to review his earlier stand on her report alleging "prima facie complicity" of Delhi chief secretary in the Bamnoli land acquisition matter, saying the fresh file is nothing but "re-spinning" of theories, Raj Niwas officials said on Friday.

Atishi had resubmitted the file on November 22 to the LG to "review his position on the preliminary report", the officials said.

"The honourable minister has only attempted to re-spin her theory... with those very conjectures and surmises, submitted earlier and in the report, so as to buttress her illogical arguments. No new document or evidence has been placed in this file while resubmitting the matter except for placing the copy..." the LG said while dismissing her fresh proposal.

"Therefore, it appears that the entire exercise or intention for resubmission of the file is only an attempt to mislead the general public and honourable courts from the core issue, for reasons best known to the honourable minister (Revenue/Vigilance)," he added.

The matter pertains to alleged corruption related to a hike in compensation for the acquisition of 19 acres of land in southwest Delhi's Bamnoli village for the construction of the Dwarka expressway by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Mr Kumar, who was granted an extension for six months, has denied any wrongdoing and called it an act of "mudslinging" by people with "vested interests" against whom vigilance action was taken for corruption.

Responding to the LG's response to Atishi's resubmission of the report, Delhi government sources said this decision is "unfortunate" for the national capital and its people.

"The LG has turned down all the plausible arguments of the inquiries. What harm would it have caused to the public's interest in initiating a thorough investigation by CBI or higher investigative authorities into the issue? What is there to hide that no enquiry is being conducted?" a source in the Delhi government said.

"It's all evident from the start since the Centre is adamant about extending this 'special' officer's services and vouching for him in the Supreme Court," the source said.

The preliminary 670-page report of the vigilance minister alleging "prima facie complicity" of the chief secretary in the land acquisition matter was submitted to the LG by the chief minister's office last month. The report had demanded Kumar's suspension and claimed that the scale of "undue benefits" in the matter is more than Rs 897 crore.

While dismissing the preliminary report filed by Atishi on November 19, Saxena had noted that the report submitted by her was "half baked", "incorrect", and "based on preconceived assumptions and presumptions".

He had turned down the proposal to remove Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and Divisional Commissioner Ashwani Kumar from their posts and order any further inquiry, saying that a probe was already underway by the CBI and any such step as suggested by Atishi and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would hamper the ongoing investigation instead of facilitating it.

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