No probes, babus scot-free

GHMC vigilance section does not have a chief

The Stamps and Registrations department tried to bury a multi-crore land scam, taking refuge under the plea that it did not have enough officers to check irregularities, but it is not the only one to do so.

The GHMC, one of the state's highest revenue generating departments, has had no one to lead its vigilance and enforcement cell since April 31 last year. Crucial cases of scams in town planning, road engineering and advertising are pending for a year as no Additional Superintendent of Police has been appointed to investigate into referred complaints. Errant officials are thus going scotfree.

A majority of the cases are with regard to town planning (fraud in building permission, bribes to overlook illegal constructions or major deviations), followed by the tax department, where there are complaints against officials for levying extra tax. The Sanitation, Advertisement and Engineering departments too have many complaints pending.

It may be recalled that recently, a scam was unearthed in the Central Zone office of the GHMC, in which 27 contractors and 12 engineers who had allegedly colluded with them were caught for producing fake bills amounting to Rs 1.8 crore in shoddy desilting works.

The scam was unearthed through an internal audit, but there has since been no investigation by Vigilance and Enforcement since it was first exposed.

The Vigilance and Enforcement cell of GHMC receives complaints either directly from the GHMC Commissioner or through the Additional Commissioner Administration. Officials said that it is for the Director General of Police to appoint an Additional SP to head the cell.