Absconding joint director of SWD served warrant by SIT

SC/ST SCHOLARSHIP SCAMGeetaram Nautiyal, who is evading probe, is an accused in the multi-crore scam

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The officials had gone to his house to serve warrant but couldn’t find him there. They inquired about his whereabouts from his family members who were present. They refused to inform MANJUNATH TC, SP, crime

DEHRADUN: The Haridwar special investigation team (SIT) led by superintendent of police (crime), Manjunath TC, served non-bailable warrant (NBW) to Geetaram Nautiyal, joint director, state social welfare department (SWD), who is one of the accused of multi-crore scheduled caste/ scheduled tribe (SC/ST) scholarship scam, a few days back, SIT officials said.

The action was taken after a local court issued the NBW against Nautiyal who is evading SIT investigation despite directions of Nainital High Court. The SIT visited his house to serve the warrant on Friday but could only find his family members. He has been absconding after he was questioned by SIT on September 16 after the HC directions.

“The officials had gone to his house to serve the warrant but couldn’t find him there. They then inquired about his whereabouts from his family members who were present. They refused to inform after which the team pasted the warrant on the wall and returned,” said Manjunath.

He added that SIT has summoned him numerous times but to no avail.

“As this is a high profile case and also monitored by HC, we are exercising caution and moving forward following legal norms and regulations. We are taking actions based on the evidences gathered. If he fails to appear before SIT for long, then we will contemplate other legal options after informing the government,” he said.

As per the HC directions, there are two SITs probing the scam. One is being led by inspector general, Sanjay Gunjyal which is investigating the scam in 11 of the 13 districts except Haridwar and Dehradun. The other one is led by Manjunath which is probing the scam in Haridwar and Dehradun districts.

Another official of the Manjunath led SIT, while speaking on the investigations on condition of anonymity, said, “Nautiyal was very powerful in the previous government.”

“He had become so powerful that he could have made transfers of senior administrative officials with just a phone call. He punched above his weight and when now he has been named as one of the accused in the case, he is making all efforts to evade arrest,” he said.

He added, “Investigations are on in the case and evidences are being gathered which may take some time as the scam has also spanned for more than five years.”

Earlier in July, according to police, Geetaram Nautiyal allegedly fled from his house in Dehradun after he was summoned by the SIT investigating the case. The SIT led by Manjunath TC, had summoned four officials of the social welfare department, including Nautiyal, for questioning. After Nautiyal failed to appear before the SIT, police officials went to search him in his residence in Dehradun but failed to find him there.

In an attempt to evade the arrest, Nautiyal also approached the ST Commission in Delhi accusing the SIT of discrimination on the basis of caste. On July 2, 2019, the ST Commission had then communicated to the state government not to arrest Nautiyal, following which the SIT filed an affidavit in the court stating that ST commission had restrained it from arresting Nautiyal, due to which it was unable to proceed further.

Following these developments, Haridwar based RTI activist Pankaj Kumar filed a PIL in the court, questioning how ST Commission could interfere in an ongoing investigation in the state.

Responding to the PIL, the HC issued notices on August 29 to the chairman and members of the ST Commission to reply by September 9.

The alleged scam came to light after Dehradun based Ravinder Jugran filed a PIL in the Uttarakhand high court last year alleging financial irregularities to the tune of nearly Rs 500 crore in SC/ST scholarship scheme between 2003 and 2016.

The petitioner had demanded a CBI inquiry monitored by high court should probe into the alleged multi-crore scholarship.