Court pulls up vigilance commission on MTNL chief’s extension
November 30th, 2009 - 9:39 pm ICT by IANS ( 1 comment )New Delhi, Nov 30 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Monday pulled up the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) over its failure to explain as to how Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) Chairman and Managing Director R.S.P. Sinha was granted an extension in service despite corruption charges against him.
A division bench comprising of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar said: “Four months have passed but nothing has been done so far in explaining as on what grounds Sinha was given an extension.”
As the counsel for the CVC sought more time, the court rebuked the lawyer too.
“There is no time for seeking instructions. Is this the way a government statutory organisation works? Adjournments cannot be granted like this,” the bench said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier said that it had found nothing against Sinha, who is facing allegations of fraud in a 2004 tender for telecom equipment awarded to Motorola. But the special CBI court had Oct 4 rejected the investigating agency’s plea for closing the case against Sinha, saying that there were some vital pieces of evidence.
Besides Sinha, other accused in the case were former MTNL General Manager P. Singh and the then country head of Motorola.
Additional Solicitor General A.S. Chandiok, appearing for the government, contended that the extension of Sinha was well within the law but the bench pulled him up too. “You must have not gone through the letter of appointment of Sinha. You must apply your mind or else we will decide the issue,” the judges said.
The court asked the CVC to file, by Thursday, the report of the investigating officer (IO) Harshvardhan Singh, who had opposed Sinha’s extension and was later transferred, and also sought the CBI’s copy of the letter in which they have sought the permission from the government to initiate criminal proceedings against Sinha.
Sinha’s term ended Aug 10 but he continues to head the telecom public sector unit as his name has been forwarded to Appointments Committee of Cabinet for an extension till Sep 2011.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who had challenged the extension to Sinha on behalf of NGO Telecom Watchdog, urged the court to cancel the extension as it was a clear-cut case of bribery of a senior officer by a private company.
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Tags: ajit, cbi court, central bureau of investigation, central vigilance commission, chief justice, corruption charges, criminal proceedings, cvc, delhi high court, division bench, four months, investigating agency, letter of appointment, managing director, prakash shah, sinha, solicitor general, statutory organisation, telecom equipment, vital pieces
May 18th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
As a senior citizen,presently into free-lance journalism,I am impelled to say that the level of corruption in government agencies is growing upwards.There is no response mechanism in place in local bodies.Let us take the case of NDMC and MCD which are administering scores of markets/shopping complexes in New Delhiand Delhi.The other day,I had an occasion to visit the market in Sector 12 R K Puram, New Delhi.These are under the administrative controle of MCD.aBOUT 70%shopkeepers have unauthorisedly encroached the entire public passages to instal their equipment and commodities.One shopkeeper No 19,Sector 12 R K Puram owned by one Mr Kalra openly defied the system by stating that nobody including Police, MCD,NDMC could touch him and remove the encroachments. They were reportedly on his monthly collection taken from all shopkeepers.This confirmed the nexus.I had sent a e-mail complaints to all these agencies about a month back.But,the local bodies seem impervious to such complaints. Their Vigilance cells are allegedly corrupt and definitely incompetent.All the markets in RKPuram (all sectors),Vasant Vihar,Munrka,Sarojini Nagar Markets are encroached.The worst case is that of a bakery shop in sector 8 R K Puram ,known as SUPREME BAKERY,which has encroachednot only the public passage but also half the road. This could not have been possible without the collusion of the local Police,MCD and NDMC.The govt officials working in NDMC.MCD and the local Police are getting regular bribes from a conduit in each market.My complaints registered with NDMC,MCD only attracted threats from the shopkeepers.I have stopped visiting the markets on security considerations.I would also quote the cases of encroachments in Basrurkar Market and Baigam Zaidi mkt in Moti Bagh. One sweet-meat shop owner(SHEETAL SWEETS)has got half the shop of his adjoining shop called KAILSH CHEMIST,through subletting and the same is being mis-used as an eating joint. I have seen some officials of local bodies taking bribe from these shopkeepers at late hours in the evening.Things are to be seen to be believed.Do not go by what I have stated.See it for yourselves and then decide how honest you have been to your job.As a senior citizen, I feel insecure at the hands of these goons. But,something from within impels me to share my concerns with the CVC,CBI,NDMC,MCD and all other concerned.Let there be raids by the CBI at the offices and residences of these officials accountable for this mess in which we are living today.While expecting my physical safety,I also look forward to appropriate actions inder the Law of the Land against all defaulters well before the CWGames. These encroachments stand out like sore thumbs.
A K SAXENA(A former JS and now a free-lance journalist)