DHFCL scam: PCL ex-director, UP power official arrested
The arrested officials had invested UPPCL employees’ PF money in the shady firm
LUCKNOW:The police on Saturday arrested UP State Power Sector Employees’ Trust secretary Praveen Kumar Gupta and former UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) director, finance, Sudhanshu Dwivedi in connection with the investment of provident fund money in a non-listed, unsecure finance institution.
Taking serious note of the case, chief minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials to refer the matter to the CBI after energy minister Shrikant Sharma wrote a letter to him suggesting the same.
The CM said till the CBI took over the case, director general, economic offences wing (EOW), be asked to investigate the case.
The arrests came after UPPCL lodged FIRs against both the accused at the Hazratganj police station here in on Saturday evening.
“Is it justified to play with the employees’ future like this?
The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has put the state power corporation employees’ provident fund money at risk. Whose interest did it serve to invest employees hard-earned Rs 2,000 crore fund in such a company?” Congress gen secy Priyanka
Gandhi in a tweet
As per the complaint, the UPPCL’s board of directors decided to invest the amount if safe options were available. In December 2016, on the proposal of secretary of the trust Praveen Kumar Gupta, then UPPCL director, finance, Sudhanshu Dwivedi and then managing director AP Mishra approved investment of the money in PNB Housing.
In March 2017, Gupta and Dwivedi invested Rs 2,631 crore in the Deewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFCL), a Mumbai-based unsecure and controversial firm, without the approval of the top management.
The duo has been booked under IPC section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record).
The investment, according to sources, was made in the form of FDs between March 2017 and December 2018. The company returned around Rs 1,000 crore after which it stopped payment.
After the employees’ unions became active on Saturday, expressing concern over their hard-earned money being at risk, the government announced that it would compensate for the power sector employees’ over Rs
LUCKNOW : The first investment that the UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) made in the controversial, unsecured Deewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFCL) in gross violations of the central government’s guidelines was on March 17, 2017 — two days before Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as the state’s chief minister.
This was a transitional period after the then ruling party had lost and the BJP was yet to take the reins.
In December 2016, the UPPCL decided to invest the Power Sector Employees’ Trust money in banking institutions, if safe options, including private firms, were available, changing the earlier order under which up to 5% investment could be made in the scheduled financial institutions only.
According to principal secretary, energy and UPPCL chairman Alok Kumar, the first investment under the changed guidelines was made in the PNB Housing Finance Corporation in
December 2016. “But the first investment in the DHFCL was made on March 17, 2017 and then the investment continued,” he said.
Kumar said 99% of the trust’s money was invested in three housing companies, of which 65% of the money was invested in DHFCL alone, in violation of the central government’s guidelines without an approval from the top officials.
He said he had received an unnamed complaint on July 10, 2019 about the investments against the provisions, after which he set up an inquiry and, based on the findings, then trust secretary Praveen Gupta was suspended two weeks ago.
Sources said the meeting of
› Had the (trust board of directors’) meeting been called, the irregularities would have been detected earlier also. SHAILENDRA DUBEY, power employee’s leader
the trust’s board of directors was not called for last three years. “Had the meeting been called, the irregularities would have been detected earlier also,” power employees’ leader Shailendra Dubey said.
He said the trust used to have employees’ representatives after the trust was set following the trifurcation of the then UP State Electricity Board in January 2000 to take care of employees terminal benefits.
“But after two-three years, our representative was dropped from the board and today employees have no representation in the trust’s board of directors,” he pointed out.
Sources said if the Central Bureau of Investigation took over the case, some big fish might fall in the net. Energy minister Shrikant Sharma said the government was working in a totally transparent manner and would not spare anyone, whosoever he may be, if found guilty of siphoning employees’ hardearned money.
“I have requested the chief minister for a CBI probe for this reason only,” he said.