ACB chief orders probe against senior official

Anti Corruption Branch Chief MK Meena has ordered an enquiry against senior bureaucrat Chetan B Sanghi for allegedly violating rules by converting DDA land from leasehold to freehold in the national Capital. The complaint filed by an advocate and RTI activist Vivek Garg before ACB has alleged that Sanghi, who had in March 2006 passed a scheme for conversion of  industrial plots / built up sheds  from leasehold to freehold.  

The scheme reportedly covered all built up industrial plots developed by the industries department and the Delhi State Industrial Development Corporation ltd (DSIDC), including industrial sheds, belonging to the DDA, and which were allotted to DSIDC on leasehold basis. Sanghi was at that time was holding the charge of DSIIDC. He is currently Principal Secretary (Industries). Sanghi is also holding the charge of Principal Secretary (PWD) and Urban Development department.

The complaint said  during a meeting  in 2009 in the chamber of the then industries minister, it was decided  that the DSIDC  would make a formal reference  to the DDA  for all the  eight industrial areas in lawrence Road, DSIDC sheds in Nangloi, Mangolpuri, Okhla (Part I and II), Kirti Nagar, Jhilmil, Wazirpur  and Narela.  It said that as per the information, no formal reference was made by the DSIDC to the DDA.

Garg said that when  Sanghi was  the DSUIDC CMD during 2011-12,  350 industrial sheds in seven industrial areas were converted from leasehold to freehold in a highly “irregular” manner  for obtaining “wrongful gains”. He alleged that the malafide  intention  and role of Sanghi  as the CMD-DSIDC  on the entire issue  needed to be investigated  as the  decisions were taken by him unilaterally  in violation of laws and procedures without taking approval of the DDA  and Raj Niwas.

The complaint said since the sheds  were constructed by the DSIDC  on the land allotted  to it by the DDA  on leasehold basis. “The ownership of the said land remained with the DDA only. As  the DSIDC  is only the  lessee, hence it had no legal authority to allow conversion  from leasehold to freehold  of the said sheds.”

Garg said the  DSIDC  in a meeting with the DDA  on April 23 this year  had admitted that about 250 more cases of conversion  of industrial sheds  were pending with the  former  and the same had been put on hold  as it was not  competent to carry out conversion process.The complaint alleged that  the ownership of the  land remained with  the DDA  as the DSIDC had constructed industrial sheds  without seeking any  approval from the lG. It said that  the DSIDC went ahead to carry out the conversion of 360 sheds from leasehold to freehold from 2010 onwards on the land actually allotted by the DDA to the DSIDC  on leasehold basis only. 

“These 360 cases also include 16 double storey  sheds  for which  there is no policy  of conversion of double storey/ multistory industrial sheds/ flats  and properties  in the industrial department / DSIDC. All these unlawful acts  were done  by the  nexus of  corrupt officials  for obtaining  wrongful gains by abusing  their official positions.”