UP Lokayukta gives Mayawati clean chit in Noida farmhouse case
13 Nov 2013 11:28 PM GMT
Close on the heels of CBI winding up disproportionate asset case against her, the UP Lokayukta has given a clean chit to BSP chief Mayawati in the alleged Noida farmhouse scam, saying the rules that were purported to have been violated were not in ‘existence’.
On 31August, Uttar Pradesh government had ordered a probe by the Lokayukta NK Mehrotra in the farmhouse allotment after receiving complaints of irregularities. The then Noida authority chairman Rakesh Bahadur had raised suspicion of a scam in his probe.
In his report sent to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday, the Lokayukta said that in the master plan of Noida, the farm house scheme was found permissible and no corruption or irregularity was found in the allotment process.
Mehrotra said the allegations of violation of any rule or act in the farmhouse allotment were found ‘baseless as the rules that were purported to have violated were not in the existence’.
‘Industrial authorities like Noida were constituted for planned development of industrial area and not for earning profit,’ the Lokayukta said, adding that in the report of the then chairman, assessment of the alleged loss was made on the basis of land rates, which the records of accounts department do not confirm.
He said that in view of the Supreme court order regarding fixing land rate for farmhouse, there was no financial loss to the authority therefore ‘terming it as a scam was completely wrong’.
‘After formation of Noida, the process of plot allotment on the basis of interview had been followed in which the selection committee had the right of using its discretion,’ he said.
On 31August, Uttar Pradesh government had ordered a probe by the Lokayukta NK Mehrotra in the farmhouse allotment after receiving complaints of irregularities. The then Noida authority chairman Rakesh Bahadur had raised suspicion of a scam in his probe.
In his report sent to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday, the Lokayukta said that in the master plan of Noida, the farm house scheme was found permissible and no corruption or irregularity was found in the allotment process.
Mehrotra said the allegations of violation of any rule or act in the farmhouse allotment were found ‘baseless as the rules that were purported to have violated were not in the existence’.
‘Industrial authorities like Noida were constituted for planned development of industrial area and not for earning profit,’ the Lokayukta said, adding that in the report of the then chairman, assessment of the alleged loss was made on the basis of land rates, which the records of accounts department do not confirm.
He said that in view of the Supreme court order regarding fixing land rate for farmhouse, there was no financial loss to the authority therefore ‘terming it as a scam was completely wrong’.
‘After formation of Noida, the process of plot allotment on the basis of interview had been followed in which the selection committee had the right of using its discretion,’ he said.
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