On the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Uttar Pradesh government has set up a 4- member Special Investigation Team (SIT) for probe against the officials involved in Supertech Emerald twin tower fiasco in Noida.
Officials said here on Thursday night that the SIT would be headed by senior IAS officer and Industrial Development Commissioner Sanjeev Mittal while Additional Chief Secretary (Panchayati Raj) Manoj Singh, ADG Meerut zone Rajiv Sabarwal and chief city and rural planner Anup Kunar Srivastava would be its other members.
The SIT would submit its report within a week to the government, officials here said.
Earlier, taking a tough stand on corruption in the Supertech Emerald Twin Tower case of Noida, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had issued orders to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) immediately for probing the collusion between the Supertech company and compromised Noida Authority officials.
Instructions were also given for a time bound action against the culprits.
In a tweet on Thursday, the chief minister said that instructions had been given to fix accountability by making a list of officers of the Noida Authority who were associated with this case from 2004 to 2017.
Earlier, a former manager of the Planning department of Noida Authority, Mukesh Goel, was suspended in the Supertech Emerald case while seven former officials of the development authority are on the radar and action could be initiated against them soon.
Officials in Lucknow said on Thursday Mukesh Goel was transferred to Gorakhpur Industrial Development Authority (GIDA) in Gorakhpur as manager last month. He was transferred after the Supreme Court's critical observation on August 5 last when it commented that Noida Authority is a corrupt body. The Noida Authority has recommended action against Goel on the basis of a preliminary inquiry.
Goel’s suspension followed the chief minister's directions on Wednesday morning for strict action against officials involved in allowing anomalies in the construction of the two towers. Chairing a high-level meeting in Lucknow on Wednesday, Yogi had pointed out that the case dated back to 2004 and a special inquiry committee should be constituted to probe irregularities that happened over a period of time.
"Each and every official responsible for the irregularities should be brought to book," the chief minister said.
According to a statement by Noida Authority, plot allotment and sanctioning of maps for the Supertech Emerald twin towers was done between 2004 and 2012. The structural maps for the plot were given sanctions in 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2012. An inquiry report being prepared by Noida Authority is expected to be ready within a week and will be sent to the government for necessary action.
The probe team is scrutinising the officials responsible for allowing the construction of the twin towers. It is also investigating how the height of the buildings increased from 66 metre to 121 metre through purchasable Floor Area Ratio (FAR).
Earlier, a writ petition was filed in the Allahabad High Court by the Resident Welfare Association of the scheme in 2012, in which the main point raised by them was that contrary to the provisions given in the National Building Code-2005 and Noida Building Regulations-2010, the minimum distance between T-01 and T-17 was not left and consent had not been obtained from the residents.
In April 2014, the High Court ordered the demolition of tower numbers- T-16 and T-17 as well as action against the builder and the complicit officials of the Noida Authority as per rules.
On Tuesday last, the Supreme Court had ordered the demolition of Supertech's twin towers (T 16 and T 17) at Emerald Court in Noida within three months at the cost of the construction company under the supervision of CBRI and prosecution of Noida Authority officials who colluded with the builder. It also ordered that the money of all the allottees, except those who have been paid earlier, should be returned in two months by Supertech Ltd with the interest of 12 percent.