Panel to examine lokayukta’s report against 4 IAS officers

CHANDIGARH The BJP government in Haryana has constituted a committee of officers to examine the report of Haryana lokayukta Justice NK Agarwal which had recommended registration of criminal cases against four IAS officers for alleged misappropriation of funds meant for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Ambala district.

The lokayukta in its recent report had recommended registration of cases against former Ambala deputy commissioners Mohammad Shayin and Sameer Pal Srow, and former Ambala additional deputy commissioners Renu Phulia and Sumedha Kataria, who were also the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the district rural development agency.

The committee of officers, headed by additional chief secretary, development and panchayat, Navraj Sandhu will examine the Lokayukta’s report.

The other members of the Committee are additional chief secretary, excise and taxation, Sanjeev Kaushal, director general, vigilance, Parminder Rai and a representative of the advocate general.

Acting on a report by the vigilance bureau, the state government had in 2015 ordered registration of a criminal case against nine forest department officials for allegedly siphoning off about Rs 5 crore MGNREGS money.

They were accused of fabricating records, feeding fake data to the management information system (MIS), and destroying muster rolls and vouchers

The vigilance bureau had recommended criminal cases against nine officials under laws dealing with forgery, misconduct, cheating, corruption and other offences.

The bureau had also recommended that the state government might take “appropriate action” at its own level against IAS officers.

LOKAYUKTA IN ITS RECENT REPORT HAD RECOMMENDED REGISTRATION OF CASES AGAINST MOHD SHAYIN, SAMEER PAL SROW, RENU PHULIA AND SUMEDHA KATARIA