Four members of the Pauri Municipal Council — Vinod Bisht, Arvind Rawat, Neelam Rawat, Jitendra Joshi — have submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through Garhwal commissioner on Monday, demanding prompt removal the Pauri Municipal Council chairman Yashppal Benam from his post under the provisions of Nagar Palika Act.
They said that the chairman must be removed under the section of 40 of the Nagar Palika Act 1916, alleging that he had made the body incur losses through unauthorized sale of the articles kept in the demolished Palika guest house sans consent of the board and the higher authority concerned. They also cited misappropriation of the Palika fund and the violation by him of the order of the state government under section 48 of the act. They further said that along with the removal, legal action should be taken against him for the malpractice he has indulged in while using his authority as the chairman of the civic body.
Notably, earlier, another memorandum had been submitted to Garhwal commissioner by them, stating that Benam had made payment of Rs 840763 for ward number 7, Rs 294430 for ward no. 11 and Rs 261840 for ward number 8 from the state exchequer on September 14 despite the state government having stripped him of his financial power he enjoyed as the chairman of the Pauri Municipal Council by an order dated August 12. They further had stated that Benam had published the tender of 53 works sans approval from the board.
This aside, Vinod Bisht submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate on Monday, citing irregularities conducted by the executive officer of the council under pressure from Benam. He further stated that under pressure from Benam, the executive officer had signed agreement for works in ward no 8 worth Rs 1.39 lakh, Rs 2.83 lakh for ward no 4 and Rs 1.0 lakh of ward no 5. As per his letter, the executive officer did not care to take the approval of the DM on the matter which is a must according to the norms. Bisht demanded action against the executive officer for flouting the rules at the behest of the graft-tainted chairman.