Dwaipayan Ghosh, TNN 23 October 2009, 05:30am IS
The four officers include former chairman of the New Okhla Industrial and Development Authority (NOIDA) Rakesh Bahadur, former CEO Sanjeev Sharan, former deputy CEO K Ravindra Nayan and the then divisional commissioner of Meerut Range Dev Dutt, UP government officials said on Thursday.
"All these four officers have been chargesheeted by the state government. They have been asked to respond within 15 days,'' a senior official said. The officers have been charged with selling expensive commercial land at prices way below the established rates to some hoteliers. It was alleged that these officers received a kickback for the same. The `deal' allegedly resulted in the loss of Rs 4,500 crore to the state exchequer.
While Bahadur, Sharan and Nayak are under suspension, Devdutt has retired from his services, officials added.
According to sources, the four IAS officers are among 15 officers against whom the state government lodged FIR on August 13 this year in connection with the alleged scam.
Earlier, fingers were raised over the role of a senior Lucknow bureaucrat in the alleged scam following the suspension of these 15 officials.
In reply to these allegations, state additional cabinet Secretary Vijay Shanker Pandey had earlier stated that several officers were under the scanner but refused to name anyone.
Chief minister Mayawati, who had earlier ordered suspension of 15 officials, has also ordered a probe into the delay in punishing the guilty babus.
Pandey said the probe, to be completed very soon, will cover all aspects, including the role of those officials who had allotted land to hoteliers in violation of Statutory Regulation Act 1991 and Bidding Regulation 2006 which state that commercial land would be sold only though auction.
Officials said the CM had also ordered that all relevant files and the action taken report be brought before her within a fortnight.
The total land involved in the scam was around 65 acres covering 2.62 lakh sq meter.
"All these four officers have been chargesheeted by the state government. They have been asked to respond within 15 days,'' a senior official said. The officers have been charged with selling expensive commercial land at prices way below the established rates to some hoteliers. It was alleged that these officers received a kickback for the same. The `deal' allegedly resulted in the loss of Rs 4,500 crore to the state exchequer.
While Bahadur, Sharan and Nayak are under suspension, Devdutt has retired from his services, officials added.
According to sources, the four IAS officers are among 15 officers against whom the state government lodged FIR on August 13 this year in connection with the alleged scam.
Earlier, fingers were raised over the role of a senior Lucknow bureaucrat in the alleged scam following the suspension of these 15 officials.
In reply to these allegations, state additional cabinet Secretary Vijay Shanker Pandey had earlier stated that several officers were under the scanner but refused to name anyone.
Chief minister Mayawati, who had earlier ordered suspension of 15 officials, has also ordered a probe into the delay in punishing the guilty babus.
Pandey said the probe, to be completed very soon, will cover all aspects, including the role of those officials who had allotted land to hoteliers in violation of Statutory Regulation Act 1991 and Bidding Regulation 2006 which state that commercial land would be sold only though auction.
Officials said the CM had also ordered that all relevant files and the action taken report be brought before her within a fortnight.
The total land involved in the scam was around 65 acres covering 2.62 lakh sq meter.
