Thaindian News

Chandigarh, Oct 15 (IANS) The office of Punjab Governor S.F. Rodrigues, in his capacity as administrator of the Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh, has got embroiled in a major controversy over contentious multi-billion rupee land deals. The Congress party has demanded a criminal case be filed against Rodrigues and other officials over the alleged scam.
The land deals, which involve hundreds of acres in this city, were signed in the last four years.

Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Thursday said the PMO has received the Central Vigilance Commission’s (CVC) recommendations asking for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against the mega projects initiated by Rodrigues, and a home ministry internal audit reportedly pointing out glaring irregularities in the allotment of land to leading builders.

Rodrigues, a former Indian Army chief, will complete his five-year tenure as governor of Punjab next month.

A CVC probe into a film city and amusement-cum-theme park was initiated in December last year. The CVC had summoned senior officials of the Chandigarh administration to New Delhi in March for questioning.

The home ministry audit has reportedly highlighted gross anomalies in the procedure followed while pursuing the projects.

The local unit of Congress has been at odds with Rodrigues and highly critical of his style of working. Congress leaders have been openly saying that the administration and Rodrigues are involved in fraudulent land deals worth about Rs.30,000 crore.

Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal is said not to enjoy cordial relations with Rodrigues.

Rodrigues has been at loggerheads with Chandigarh’s senior most bureaucrat (chief secretary rank), advisor to the administrator Pardip Mehra over the controversial land deals.

Mehra had openly objected to several land deals allegedly for being under-valued and also for allotting the land to certain builders at rates much lower than the prevailing market price.

In damage-control mode, Finance Secretary of Chandigarh Sanjay Kumar told reporters here Thursday evening the home ministry’s audit report “is not an audit report by the AG (Auditor General) and is just a draft report. We have sent it to all our officials concerned and very soon we will submit our reply to the MHA.”

“It is not the case that this report is pointing towards any scam or frauds, we just need time and after the submission of our reply things will settle. Chandigarh is a different city and it is governed by its exclusive sets of law so we cannot compare it with any other city or state. The MHA team has not taken cognisance of such factors while compiling this report,” stated Kumar.

Rodrigues is the second governor after Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibtey Razi to be involved in any controversy in recent months.