Appoint judicial panel to probe irrigation scam: Jan Manch
| Date :12-Jan-2020 |
Staff Reporter :
Moves High Court seeking appointment of enquiry commission headed by a sitting or former Supreme Court or HC judge
Expressing complete lack of confidence over impartiality and ability of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to conduct probe into irrigation scam cases, petitioner-Jan Manch has moved the High Court seeking appointment of a commission of enquiry headed by sitting or retired Supreme Court or High Court judge. Only such enquiry commission will be able to unearth the truth without getting influenced by any other factor, Jan Manch stated in its application. The application filed by Jan Manch has exhaustively referred to completely disappointing performance of the ACB in probing the mind-boggling irregularities and its contradictory position vis-a-vis the then Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and expressed apprehension about its ability to conduct further probe after change of guard in the State.
The application will come up for hearing before the High Court on January 15 before a division bench headed by Justice Sunil Shukre. The other petitioner Atul Jagtap has already filed an application before the High Court demanding transfer of irrigation scam probe to Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation following the shocking U-turn made by the ACB in irrigation scam granting clean chit to Ajit Pawar. This is a desperate attempt to exonerate the real culprit while passing the blame to subordinate officers and field level engineers, Jagtap had claimed while stating that ACB’s affidavit had clearly revealed that probe was not conducted in right direction and apparently influenced by extraneous factors.
The application by Jan Manch demanding a time-bound probe under Commission of Enquiries Act has been triggered by latest affidavits filed by Nagpur and Amravati unit heads of ACB on November 27 contradicting the consistent stand of ACB explained by its then Director General Sanjay Barve on November 28, 2018 clearly hinting towards Ajit Pawar as the ‘dramatis personae’ in the entire scam. The subsequent endorsement of these affidavits by ACB Director General Param Bir Singh, Jan Manch claimed, only demonstrates that the agency would not be able to impartially probe the matters while clarifying that it was not against any individual, but against the defrauding of public money and Vidarbha region in the name of irrigation projects.
The ACB had earlier accused Pawar for presiding over a regime in which “procedures were bypassed, pecuniary benefits were passed on, sub-standard work allowed leading to drain upon public exchequer.” But the latest affidavit found no evidence about his role in cost updation or mobilisation advance, or any evidence of money trail and dismissed all allegations him as mere procedural irregularities, departmental lapses and deviations from some process for which the Chairman (WRD Minister) cannot be held responsible.