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Saturday, June 5, 1999

Rooting to his ground, Bhatia lodges FIR against Chief Secretary

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE  
PUNE, June 4: Unperturbed by the campaign for his removal, Municipal Commissioner Arun Bhatia today lodged a first information report (FIR) against State Chief Secretary Arun Bongirwar alleging that Bongirwar had illegally approved contracts worth Rs two crore for road construction while he was the municipal commissioner.

Bhatia lodged the FIR at Deccan Gymkhana police station late this evening stating that Bongirwar was defendant no 2 in a case against the municipal corporation. The FIR says the fourth joint civil judge, junior division in case no 2250 had observed in his judgement, passed on January 27, 1986, that the tenders were approved illegally, arbitrarily and in a manner that smacked of favouritism.

The FIR says when the corporation took the case to the district court in the appeal, the court stated even more grave findings. The judgement was passed by seventh additional district judge P V Kadade on 28 February 1986. Quoting the judgement, the FIR says the documents clearly indicate the fact that the municipal commissioner himself was directly party to apparently illegal acts even though the subordinates brought to his notice certain irregularities and illegalities by way of letters as well as audit notes drawn in this regard.

The FIR says that the tender notice for road construction stated the amount of work to be Rs 25 lakh whereas work was allotted to some favoured contractors to the extent of Rs two crore. It further says the court had remarked in its order that the decision was illegal.

According to the FIR, Bongirwar bypassed the public works committee and sent the proposal directly to the standing committee, violating the section 73 of Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act (BPMC). It points out that Bongirwar was personally involved in the case, as stated in the court judgement, since he acted against the written advice of the officers.

The FIR also alleges that Bongirwar acted in a haste in order to avoid the due process of law, the fact even accepted in the court judgement. Bongirwar had filed an appeal in Bombay High Court but it was rejected. The high court while rejecting his appeal had said that findings of both the courts do not suffer from any infirmity and there was no error on the face of the record.

Bhatia has demanded that an FIR should be registered against Bongirwar immediately and he should be informed the registration number. Demanding that offences against Bongirwar should be registered under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and Anti-corruption Act, the FIR warns that he would be constrained to initiate legal steps against the police officer and Police Commissioner K K Kashyap.

The FIR also points out that the matter remained suppressed for years in spite of the findings by none other than the judiciary. It also states that some municipal officers went on mass leave when he demanded files and documents related to the case.

The FIR says that he would write a separate letter to the State Government demanding suspension or removal of Bongirwar from the post of Chief Secretary till the investigation was completed.


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