Senior bureaucrat Taradatt, who was till recently heading the Revenue Department and was viewed as an honest officer, is trapped in an alleged land scam. He has been served notice in the case by the court of Member, Board of Revenue, though there is no clear evidence of his direct involvement as of now.
Besides, another senior IAS officer, SN Tripathy, now on Central deputation, has also been served with a similar notice by the same court in the same case.
They have been charged with purchase of disputed Government land and construction of houses on it. Further adding salt to injury, the court has ordered the Crime Branch for an inquiry into the scam. The court has also directed the Crime Branch to probe the role of the then Bhubaneswar tehsildar and the Commissioner of Consolidation in the scam, while ordering status quo on the disputed land.
While Taradatt is currently posted as Director-General of the Gopabandhu Academy, Tripathy is posted as Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of MSME.
The case involves about 4.5 acres of Government land in Chandrasekharpur mouja in the capital city. Member-Board of Revenue Ashok Tripathy’s court has served notices to 53 persons, including the two senior IAS officers. The court has asked all of them to reply back to its notice within a month.
Several influential persons are said to be involved in the scam, though their names have not been made public, said sources.
According to the sources, one Ucchab Sahu in 1962 through manipulation had managed to record the title of this valuable land in his name. The then tehsildar and other officials had allegedly extended an extra helping hand to Sahu in the act. The land, which was under the General Administration (GA) Department, was listed under the kissam (category) of Jhadi Jungle (roughly meaning bushy forest). later, Sahu sold the land in parts to 53 persons at different points of time.
After it came to the notice of the GA Department, a petition was filed in the court of the Member-Board of Revenue to bring back the land into the records of the Government. Admitting the petition, the Member-Board of Revenue has served notices to all sellers and buyers of the land.
Sources said several Government officials and influential persons are involved in getting Government lands held by the GA Department recorded in their names.
Government Standing Counsel Jagannath Rath is conducting the case from the Government’s side.
Serving of notices to the two senior IAS officers has become the talk of the town in the administrative and political circles. As such, Taradatt has been in the firing line of the Government for some time. last month he was removed from the post of KBK Administrator.
Reactions of Taradatt and Tripathy were yet to be available.