The Punjab Government has granted the sanction to prosecute two lower-rank officers in the Rs 137-crore guava orchard compensation scam case involving the acquisition of land for Aerotropolis township project of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).
However, the government is yet to give permission to probe the role of IAS officers Vipul Ujjawal and Rajesh Dhiman, Director (Horticulture) Shailender Kaur, an Indian Forest Services officer, and Punjab Civil Services (PCS) officer Jagdeep Saigal under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The Vigilance has been awaiting the government’s nod for the past over a year.
A senior functionary in the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) confirmed that the prosecution sanction under Section 19 of the Act was granted against Horticulture Development Officers Vaishali and Jaspreet Singh Sandhu in the last week of January. The Vigilance Bureau will now proceed against the officials in the court.
Both officers, who were arrested last year after the case was registered in May 2023, are out on a regular bail granted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
According to Vigilance Bureau officials, Rs 137 crore was released as compensation for guava orchards on land acquired by GMADA at Bakarpur village in Mohali.
As per allegations, Bhupinder Singh, a resident of Bakarpur village, and a property dealer, in connivance with officials of GMADA, revenue and horticulture departments, had planted guava orchards on the land by procuring a general power of attorney on fake documents.
“The accused knew that they could get higher compensation if they showed it to be an orchard. To get enhanced compensation, they started planting 2,000 to 2,500 plants per acre. This is way higher than the Punjab Agricultural University recommendations, which states that a maximum of 132 guava trees can be planted in an acre. The accused, through fake revenue records and reports, projected that the trees were planted in 2016 when these were planted in 2018,” said the Vigilance.
Role of senior officers yet to be probed
The government is yet to give permission to probe the role of IAS officers Vipul Ujjawal and Rajesh Dhiman, Director (Horticulture) Shailender Kaur, an Indian Forest Services officer, and Punjab Civil Services (PCS) officer Jagdeep Saigal under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Vigilance has been awaiting the government’s nod for the past over a year.
