Law officer, asst suspended for giving ‘improper’ legal advice

NOIDA: A law officer and an assistant with the group housing department of the Noida authority have been suspended for alleged negligence in discharge of duties. The move comes after the authority realised that these staff members allegedly did not give proper legal advice in a case related to the real estate developer Unitech Group.

“A legal officer and an assistant have been suspended due to negligence on their part while dealing with the Unitech Group case, which is on trial in the Supreme Court,” said Rajesh Kumar, officer on special duty of the Noida authority.

According to officials, the legal officer and the assistant were entrusted with the responsibility

› A legal officer and an assistant have been suspended for negligence on their part while dealing with the Unitech Group case, which is on trial in the SC. RAJESH KUMAR, officer on special duty, Noida authority

to pursue the case in the Supreme Court, said officials, adding that they have been suspended because they did not give adequate legal advice on the matter and also did not perform their duties as they should have.

The Noida authority on October 30, 2019 had cancelled the land allotment of realty major Unitech Group’s two group housing projects and also started recovery process of pending land dues. The process is required before cancellation of land allotment and issuance of recovery notices.

Later, the authority had announced that it will auction the land of the developer to recover dues. Officials said that the authority would not have cancelled the two projects’ allotment, which it had done so based on an old Supreme Court order, had the legal department and the group housing department staff provided the correct legal status of the Unitech Group.

“As these two officials did not pursue the Unitech case properly, the authority could not save their interest in this case,” said an authority official, not authorized to speak to the media.