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Vigilance team and private agencies survey
Badal’s Balasar farms
Letter of contract yet to be issued to private surveyors
Chander Parkash
Tribune News Service
Sleuths of the Vigilance Bureau, along with technical staffers and surveyors from private agencies, survey the building of Balasar farmhouse of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at Balasar village, Sirsa (Haryana), on Monday.
— Photo Kulbir Beera |
Balasar (Sirsa), November 3
Even as sleuths of Punjab Vigilance Bureau, along with the private surveyors, today carried out a survey of Balasar farms owned by former Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to assess its value, the Punjab Government was yet to issue a letter of contract (hiring) to the private surveyors for carrying out the job assigned to them despite the fact that they had earlier carried out two surveys of Mr Badal’s house in Sector 9 of Chandigarh and Orbit Resort, owned by his son Mr Sukhbir Badal. Apart from it, the Punjab Government, which has engaged the four private agencies to survey different properties owned by Mr Badal and his kin before giving nod to the Vigilance Bureau to present challan against them in the court in connection with corruption case registered against them, has so far failed to settle down the fee, which it would pay to these agencies for carrying out the surveys. Though Mr A.K. Govil, who manages Delhi-based A.K. Govil and Associates, Insurance Surveyors and loss assessors, one of the agencies engaged by the Punjab Government to make surveys, pointed out that so far the scope of their works was decided so far and the letters of contracts would be issued to them today evening at Chandigarh and their fee would also be settled down, Mr S.P. Singh, S.P. Vigilance Bureau (EOW), Punjab told TNS that surveyors would be paid according to the worth of their work done by them in these three surveys. “We can’t equate a horse with an ass. We are going to pay the surveyors of all four agencies engaged by the Punjab Government according to the worth of their work. If these surveyors will put good work, they will be paid accordingly,” pointed out Mr Singh. He added that this was last visit of sleuths of Vigilance Bureau to Balasar farmhouse. When asked that how the Vigilance Bureau could use the private surveyors to carry out the surveys of properties owned by Mr Badal when these surveyors were authorised properly to do the same by issuing a letter of contract to them, Mr B.K. Uppal, DIG, Vigilance Bureau, who led the team, intervened and said that an investigation office could ask any body to assist him in any type of search or survey. Mr Uppal pointed out that technical
experts of the Vigilance Bureau, who had earlier inspected these properties could not appreciate the real values of same as they were not expert enough to assess a value of any property and it was the main
reason that private surveyors had been engaged to assess the real values of properties before the challan could be presented against Mr Badal in the court. Meanwhile, hundreds of workers, who had assembled at the farmhouse, raised slogans against Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister Punjab, when the Vigilance Bureau team, along with the private surveyors, entered and left the Balasar premises. However, on the direction of Mr Sukhbir Badal, his cousin, Mr Babbi Badal, former MLA, Muktsar, Mr Harnirpal Singh Kuku and president, Youth Akali Dal, Muktsar, Mr Harmeet Singh, who were present at the farmhouse, the workers cooperated with and assisted them in making the survey. The cameraman of Vigilance Bureau and private surveyors were not allowed to make videography or to take still photographs of the farmhouse. Most of the workers when came to know about the fact that private surveyors did not have any letter of contract issued to them to carry out survey at any of the properties owned by Mr Badal and his kin by the Punjab Government or its any agency, expressed apprehensions that private surveyors would be used by the Vigilance Bureau to jack up the values of the same properties so that these could meet the figure which had been set by Capt Amarinder Singh. Mr Sukhbir Badal, talking to TNS after the survey was over, alleged that Capt Amarinder Singh had failed miserably to establish any thing against Mr Badal and his kin in the earlier raids conducted by sleuths of the Vigilance Bureau and now he had made an other attempt to collect false evidence against them. Meanwhile, sleuths of Vigilance Bureau and surveyors, who were earlier frisked at the gate of Balasar farmhouse by the Akali workers, were later served with tea, snacks and lunch.
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