Delhi: Lokpal Bench 'exposes' corruption in Rani Jhansi flyover land acquisition

New Delhi, March 31: A Lokpal Bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar has left the door open for “appropriate action against the erring officials”, including criminal proceedings, for corruption in distribution of the compensation to acquire land for the Rani Jhansi flyover in north Delhi around 2009-11, an official said on Monday.

A Bench headed by Justice Khanwilkar said in its order: "A nexus of Government officials and private persons who had connived with criminal intent in execution of the whole process is substantiated."

“It is open to the Competent Authority to take appropriate action against the erring officials and take it to its logical end, including criminal proceedings before the competent court in accordance with law, if so advised,” the Bench added in its recent order.

The Lokpal Bench was hearing a complaint seeking action against officials of the Delhi government’s Revenue Department and members/officers of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation for irregularities in the project, said an official.

The Lokpal Bench’s order noted that a 2021 CVC report on land acquisition by the collector found that one of the land owners – Northern Cold Storage and Refrigeration Ltd – was given compensation of Rs 9.9 crore for 1,183 sq metres of land while it possessed only 698 sq metres.

Another committee set up by the Delhi Government’s chief secretary, in a report in 2023, pointed to irregularities in Rs 25.67 crore compensation awarded to Methodist Episcopal Church in South Asia (MECISA) and private person Abhishek Gupta, who got Rs 3.45 crore even though his name was not there in the compensation award.

On the committee’s recommendation, the Ministry of Home Affairs last year suspended the Delhi government’s land acquisition collector Raj Kumar, who was also functioning as secretary to the Delhi legislative Assembly. Raj Kumar was a 1995-batch officer of the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Services (DANICS).

The Lokpal Bench said in its decision that the preliminary investigation report of August 21, 2024 and the supplementary preliminary investigation of October 15, 2024, revealed that the process of land acquisition was done illegally, government money was misappropriated, and private people were given undue benefits.

The project for the construction of a 1.8-km Rani Jhansi Flyover was approved in March 2007, for an amount of Rs 177.72. It was inaugurated in 2018 after a delay of almost a decade and cost Rs 725 crore.

The Lokpal Bench, in its verdict, however, refused to order any action against government officials for their alleged misconduct as the alleged irregularity was related to a period more than seven years prior to the date of filing of the complaint on August 5, 2020.

“We are of the considered view that the Lokpal of India cannot exercise jurisdiction in the matter being barred by limitation. At the same time, we hasten to add that it is open to the Competent Authority to take appropriate action against the erring officials and take it to its logical end, including criminal proceedings before the competent court in accordance with law,” said the Bench headed by Justice Khanwilkar.

The Bench noted that “rejection of this complaint being barred by limitation, will not and cannot affect such action and it must proceed as per law”.

Reader Comments

P

Priya S.

Finally some accountability! This has been going on for too long. The flyover took forever to build and now we know why. Hope they recover all the stolen money. 👏

R

Rahul K.

The fact that this happened over 10 years ago and is only coming to light now shows how broken our systems are. How many more scams are buried in paperwork?

A

Anjali M.

While I appreciate the Lokpal's findings, I'm disappointed they're not taking stronger action because of the "time limitation." Corruption shouldn't have an expiry date!

S

Sanjay P.

₹9.9 crore for land they didn't even own? And the project cost ballooned from ₹177 crore to ₹725 crore! This is why infrastructure projects in India are so expensive.

N

Neha T.

I use this flyover daily. To think it was built with stolen money makes me angry. Hope they make an example of everyone involved. No more excuses!

V

Vikram J.

The article mentions multiple investigations since 2021 - why has it taken 3+ years to reach this conclusion? The slow pace of justice helps the corrupt get away.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.