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Delhi

Court pulls up cops for delay

A city court has asked the police about the action taken by it on a complaint of RTI activist Vivek Garg against Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely for alleged corruption in grant of fitness certificate to commercial vehicles.

Metropolitan Magistrate Neeraj Gaur asked the Anti-Corruption Branch to file an action-taken-report by 4 July, detailing the steps it has taken on the complaint.

Besides Dikshit and Lovely, Garg has also named former Transport Commissioner R K Verma and a company M/s ESP India, which was granted contract for lane tests of commercial vehicles.

Garg told the court that the Delhi government gave away the contract for lane test of commercial vehicles for fitness certificate to a private firm without inviting any tender. ‘Due to corrupt and malafide intentions of the said ministers [Dikshit and Lovely], officer [R K Verma] and company [ESP India], no tender bid was called and the contract was given in contravention of the law,’ Garg said in his complaint.

Garg told the court that despite the premises being used for the lane test by the company belonging to the Transport Department and the entire payment for machines and other infrastructure being made by the government, the revenue generated by the private firm is not shared with the state.

Garg’s complaint has said,  ‘I&C lane test is annually done of all commercial vehicles registered in Delhi. Vehicles which clear this test are given fitness certificates. Earlier the whole process was being done by the Transport Department but now the lane test is done by the said private company for Rs 400 per vehicle, which is not shared with the government. After the vehicle clears this test, Transport Department issues a fitness certificate for which a separate fees of Rs 100 is charged from each commercial vehicle.’

Garg’s complaint has said that ESP India is not having even adequate and qualified engineers, which is keeping the lives of innocent citizen at the high risk. ‘The same is also causing for massive accidents resulting in large number of casualties, injuries, etc,’ Garg’s complaint to the court said.

Garg has sought court’s direction to lodge an FIR against Dikshit, Lovely, Verma and the owner of M/s ESP India under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including, Section 511 [punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life], 420 [cheating], 409 [criminal breach of trust by a public servant] and criminal conspiracy. Garg’s complaint has also demanded that the named persons should be charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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