After facing the heat for the sale of sugar mills in which both Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate have registered separate cases, BSP chief Mayawati found herself in fresh trouble when the state government gave nod for prosecution of 39 government officials for corruption in the Rs 1410-crore memorial scam in Lucknow and Noida during the BSP regime between 2007 and 2012.
Among these officers, the then mining director Ram Bodh Maurya of Rajikya Nirman Nigam and then managing director CP Singh have already retired.
Prosecution will also commence in corruption cases are then joint director of mining Suhel Ahmed Faruqi and others. All the 39 accused were chargesheeted by the Lokayukta too.
Sources in Lucknow said that the Vigilance department had sought prosecution sanction for 39 officers and engineers accused in the scam after the Yogi government came to power. “After the government’s nod, the Vigilance department will file a chargesheet against these officers and engineers in the court,” the sources said.
Lokayukta Justice (Retd) NK Mehrotra had probed the matter earlier and also accused 39 people for the scam. However, the Lokayukta also made former minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Babu Singh Kushawaha the accused.
The Lokayukta had submitted his report on the memorial scam on May 20, 2013 to then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in which 199 people, including two ministers, were accused, and recommended further inquiry.
The government first recommended a probe by Economic Offences Wing (EOW) but later, it was handed over to the Vigilance department. Among the accused were a sitting legislator, two former legislators, two lawyers, five officers of Mining department, 57 engineers & 37 accountants of Rajkiya Nirman Nigam, five engineers of LDA, 60 firms, and 20 consortium along with eight brokers.
The Lokayukta had recommended immediate registration of FIRs against former ministers Nasemuddin Siddiqui, Babu Singh Kushawaha, Rajikya Nirman Nigam MD CP Singh, and joint director of mining Suhel Ahmed Faruqi along with 15 engineers. It also recommended a CBI probe and setting up of a special task force for an in-depth probe into the matter.
During Mayawati regime between 2007 and 2012, several memorials were constructed after Dalit icons in Lucknow and Noida in which financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 1410 were detected.
The Lokayukta probe report said that stones were purchased at 34 per cent higher rates and Rs 1,410 crore were siphoned off. The Lokayukta had also recommended realisation of the amount from the accused.