SVO getting prosecution sanction in Panchayat Ghar Electrification Scam

Accused Minister is still a Minister; accused Dir RDD is now PDP’s MLC

                    

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Sep 26: General Administration Department (GAD) is likely to grant prosecution sanction against some high profile accused in the infamous Panchayat Ghar Electrification Scam of 2005 in a couple of days. Of the prime accused, then Minister of Rural Development, Pirzada Mohammad Sayeed (who was implicated by State Accountability Commission in a suo motto cognizance but not incorporated by State Vigilance Organisation) is now Minister incharge Public Enterprise and then Director RDD Kashmir, Asgar Ali, has become opposition PDP’s MLC in 2011.

Highly placed authoritative sources revealed to Early Times that GAD had recently completed the process of prosecution sanctions against the accused in Rural Development Department Kashmir’s infamous Panchayat Ghar Electrification Scam of 2005. According to these sources, sanction to the prosecution of a large number of then RDD officials would be communicated to SVO in a couple of days.

On several complaints, Vigilance Organisation Kashmir (VOK) had conducted a preliminary verification and subsequently filed case FIR No: 18 0f 2005 and FIR No:19 of 2005 against a number of the public servants, including several BDOs and Treasury officials. According to the complaints, RDD Kashmir officials during Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s government had claimed and drawn huge amounts of money on account of electrification of Panchayat Ghars in Anantnag and Baramulla districts. Small amounts ranging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000 had been actually spent on each Panchayat Ghar but bills claimed around Rs 100,000 for each unit.

First Chairman of J&K State Accountability Commission, Justice (retd) R.P. Sethi had taken the first suo motto cognizance of the same matter on the basis of media reports and held then Minister incharge RDD, Pirzada Mohammad Sayeed, guilty of irregularities. However, Pirzada got the Commission’s orders against him stayed from J&K High Court. In this very sensational case, some people had trapped Justice Sethi’s son and then the state government’s Additional Advocate General Anil Sethi trapped in a sting operation that resulted in latter’s termination of service and his father himself asking Crime Branch to register a criminal case.

In the last seven years, Pirzada has yet again become a Minister in the Cabinet while as the next high profile accused, then Director RDD Kashmir, Asgar Ali, has quit his government service and become PDP’s MLC in Upper House of the state legislature.

The accused officials included Mr Asgar Ali, then Treasury Officer of Baramulla Ali Mohammad Ganai, BDO Rafiabad Ali Mohammad Rahi, BDO Wagora Zaffar Altaf, BDO Tangmarg Shaukat Ahmad Sheikh, BDO Baramulla Bashir Ahmad Hajam alias Hakeem, BDO Singhpura Abdul Rauf Banihali, BDO Sumbal Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, BDOs of Hajjan Shafeeq Hussain Sofi and Ghulam Hassan Rather, BDO Rohama Nazir Ahmed Lone, BDO Sopore Zainageer Hakeem Tanvir Ahmad, BDO Boniyar Ali Mohammad Dar, BDO Kunzar Fayaz Ahmad Baihaqi and BDO Pattan Mir Munawwar Ahmad.

Almost all BDOs of erstwhile Anantnag District (including today’s new district of Bandipore), as also some Treasury Officials were also among the accused.

While as the matter of then Minister incharge RDD and now Minister incharge Public Enterprises, Pirzada Mohammad Sayeed, is still pending and stayed in High Court, sources said that GAD and Law Department were supposed to obtain sanction to Mr Asgar Ali’s prosecution from Chairman of Legislative Council. It was not immediately clear whether Council Secretariat had granted the sanction or not. However, GAD was competent in the matter of issuing prosecution sanction to other serving government officials. Prosecution sanction was not required for non-officials and retired officials. A number of the accused public servants have already retired from service.

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