Noida hotel plots: 3 IAS,12 officers suspended

The IAS officers suspended are Rakesh Bahadur,Sanjeev Saran and Ravindra Nayak — then chairman,chief executive officer (CEO),and additional CEO of Noida Authority,respectively.

The government has ordered legal proceedings to be initiated against retired IAS officer Deo Datta,then divisional commissioner of Meerut. Datta retired last February.

The Mayawati government had cancelled the allotment of 14 plots on August 3,2007 on the ground of irregularities. The allottees had challenged the government decision in Allahabad High Court,and the court quashed the cancellation order and asked the government to give the allottees personal hearing and then pass an order.

The government again cancelled the allotments after holding hearings. The hotel companies then moved the Supreme Court,where the matter is still pending.

Additional Cabinet Secretary V S Pandey today said the government has ordered an inquiry to find the reasons for delay in taking action against the concerned officials. “The chief minister had given clear directions in July 2007 to ensure action against officials involved in this matter within 15 days,” he said.

Pandey said 14 plots were allotted at the rate of Rs 7,400 per square metre when the market rate was going at Rs 69 lakh per sq m.

The PCS officers suspended are H N S Sengar,CP Singh,S C Sangal,V K Jain, V Kumar,L K Gupta,D V Mallik,Jai Prakash,L K Jha,V A Pujari,S K Jaman,and S K Kulshrestha.