Tribune News ServiceChandigarh, March 6
In its drive against corruption in Punjab, the state government has suspended an IAS officer of 1989 batch.
Kirpa Shankar Saroj was suspended on the basis of a report submitted to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that confirmed the officer had gone out of his way to help a Mumbai-based company by hiring it without inviting tenders and extending advances without proper bank guarantees. The company failed to repay, causing loss of Rs 20 crore to the corporation.
The report has held Saroj guilty of exceeding the charter of Punjab Agro by importing and exporting iron ore and steel scrap. The officer got around Rs 14 crore withdrawn from the fixed deposit of the corporation from a Delhi bank and advanced it to the company. Just as the iron ore was imported the prices of the ore fell in the international market causing panic to Saroj and others involved in the deal, sources disclosed.
“They had every reason to panic as no proper and adequate bank guarantee was taken from the firm. Secondly, the firm was hired without resorting to competitive bidding”, an official said.
To cover up the losses, Saroj and his additional managing director at the Punjab Agro Foodgrains Corporation
invited tenders for the sale of wheat and collected advances. Since there was no wheat to be sold, investigations point out they may have sold some cattle feed as wheat and partially made up for the loss. But in the entire operations, the Punjab Agro suffered major losses estimated by some to be between Rs 17 to Rs 18 crore, while the file does not rule out loss to be higher at around Rs 20 crore.
According to sources in the Punjab government the advances made to the company were still due on March 31, 2007. Initially the objection raised by some officials of the government was the Punjab Agro’s charter did not allow the corporation to indulge in any non-agro based activity.
When the scam came to light, both Saroj and his AMD were given a show- cause notice. In fact it is learnt the officers were even given a few months time to recover the money from the Mumbai-based firm if they wanted to save their skin. But they could not manage it.
Saroj was deputy commissioner, Muktsar during the SAD-BJP government’s previous term and known to be a Badal man. He was appointed MD, Punjab Agro Foodgrains Corporation during the Congress regime. Sources in the government said efforts were on to ascertain if political higher-ups in the Congress were shielding these officers. At least four IAS and two IPS officers have borne the brunt of political masters in recent months.
