Chandigarh, June 18
The Punjab government has ordered a Vigilance probe against former Congress legislator and deputy speaker Prof Darbari lal for allegedly constructing a four-storey building on a busy traffic junction in Amritsar in violation of a sanctioned scheme as well as a High Court order in this regard.
The Congressman has, however, claimed that the move smacked of political vendatta and that he had neither violated the sanctioned scheme nor any High Court order. Giving details about the Vigilance probe here today, local government and commerce minister Manoranjan Kalia said the site in question, which measured 633 sq yd as per the original plan was kept as open space. He said one Gurcharan Singh, who was then working as building inspector at Municipal Corporation, Amritsar, and was now posted as an executive engineer at MC, Jalandhar, had purchased this open space of the sanctioned scheme, along with others with mala fide intentions.
Kalia said when the officer failed to get the building constructed, he sold this land to Prof Darbari Lal’s sons Karanvir Verma and Ramesh Kumar Verma as well as his wife Veena Rani. The minister said the new buyers then erected the four-storey building even though it led to obstruction in the clear visibility zone and made the junction at Kitchlu Chowk on the Court Road in Amritsar accident-prone.
The minister said a department inquiry was conducted by Vigilance cell of the Local Bodies Department on the complaint filed by former municipal councillor Naresh Sharma. He said following a detailed inquiry, the government had decided to hand over the case to the Vigilance Bureau. Department action against Gurcharan had also been approved. Kalia said it was also decided to retract the orders of the previous government sanctioning the building plan of the structure and make it an open area, indicating the building will
be demolished.
Meanwhile, Prof Darbari Lal said the government had already procured nearly half of the 633-yd plot for a road for which it had not given any payment to the then owners. He said the site, which was only around 370 yd now, was registered as private property since 1923. He said the previous owner Gurcharan had applied to the High Court to allow him to utilise the land and the court had asked him to apply for the same to the government.
The former legislator said Gurcharan did this in 1997 during the SAD-BJP rule and was allowed to construct upon the land and permission was also given to him convert the site for commercial use. He said he had only bought the site in 2006 and the building plan for the present structure was passed by the MC following due rules in 2004.
