The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Neera Yadav along with another top bureaucrat in a land allotment scam of 1994 in Noida. The court, however, reduced their jail term from three to two years considering the fact that the two persons had surrendered the illegally acquired plot of land.
Yadav was the then Chairman and CEO of New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) when the alleged allotment took place between 1994-95 while the other accused Rajiv Kumar was Deputy Chief Executive Officer, NOIDA and a 1983 batch IAS officer. The duo were accused of cornering prime plots for their families contrary to the Government rules and even facilitated plots for other influential people.
The Allahabad High Court upheld the conviction of the two officers after finding sufficient material to prosecute them under the Prevention of Corruption Act and punished them to three years imprisonment. The apex Bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R Banumathi refused to interfere with the finding of the HC. However, on the issue of sentence, the Bench reduced the punishment to two years since they had surrendered their plot and even forgoing the refund.
Yadav and Kumar are in jail since March 14, 2016 and April 18, 2016 respectively. Their counsels further argued that due to the conviction, their retiral benefits will also be in jeopardy.
Yadav had booked two plots in the name of her two daughters when the rule provided for only one plot per family. The Central Bureau of Investigation which probed the case found out that she entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kumar and effected changes in the plot allotment. Kumar too managed to change land use of a plot earmarked for a guesthouse and even increased its area in violation of norms.