State Govt quizzed on action against

State Govt quizzed on action against
Express News Service

Mumbai, Feb 15: The Bombay High Court has directed the State Government to appoint within a week, a responsible officer to file chargesheets against officials and corporators of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) indicted for corruption.

The division bench of Chief Justice B P Singh and Justice Ranjana Desai on Wednesday has also asked the government to file an affidavit within a week detailing what action it proposes to take against those indicted by the Joshi Committee report. Specifically the bench has sought to know what action the government proposes to take against the officials involved whether departmental or intends to lodge criminal cases against them. Besides, in the case of corporators, whether it plans to suspend them or unseat them.

The bench is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) calling for the implementation of the report. The bench has also directed that the officer appointed shall file chargesheets within two weeks after his appointment. Further that he should thereafter initiate proceedings and complete it in six months.

Dismissed municipal commissioner Arun Bhatia had written a letter on September 24, 1999 complaining about large-scale corruption in PMC and totally submitted some 19 complaints on different grounds. Following this the State Government appointed then Urban Development Department, principal secretary Suresh Joshi to investigate the complaint. Joshi submitted his report on May 30, 2000 stating that 9 of 19 charges made by Bhatia were true.

The PIL was filed by Colonel (retd) I P Lobo and few others also urged the court that since the Joshi report was declared no action was taken on the those persons indicted for their role in the report. The PIL suggested that they should be punished and that PMC be dissolved. However the government pleader told the court that the report does not speak removing from service those officials held held responsible in the report.