Rs 54 Crore Haridwar Land Scam: District Top Officials Suspended

Dehradun: The Uttarakhand government suspended two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and one Provincial Civil Service (PCS) officer following an investigation that revealed irregularities in land purchases in Haridwar. The investigation report submitted by IAS officer Ranveer Singh Chauhan led to the latest decision to suspend the officers.

Haridwar District Magistrate, Karmendra Singh, was suspended after the probe by IAS officer Ranveer Singh Chauhan found the DM “prima facie” responsible for “neglecting official duties, disregarding procedures for land permission, overlooking the municipal corporation's interests, ignoring government orders, and violating the Municipal Corporation Act 1959.”

Alongside the DM, IAS officer Varun Chaudhary and PCS officer Ajayveer were also suspended, bringing the total number of suspended officers in the alleged Haridwar land purchase scam to twelve.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has also ordered a vigilance inquiry into the matter to further uncover the scandal. Furthermore, Dhami reportedly gave strict instructions to officials to cancel all the sale deeds related to the land scam and ensure the recovery of the money paid to the landowners. The CM has directed a special audit of all the works carried out in the Haridwar Municipal Corporation during the tenure of the then Municipal Commissioner Varun Chaudhary to ensure proper investigation of financial irregularities.

This is the second case when action has been taken against an IAS officer in Uttarakhand while holding the post of District Magistrate. This is the first case of suspension of DM.

Earlier, a DM was terminated in the Patwari recruitment scam. Then, during the time of the then CM Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Pauri DM, Lamba was dismissed.

Haridwar land purchase scam

The Haridwar land purchase scam case is from last year, when municipal corporation and municipal council elections were being held at many places in the state. The entire system of the Municipal Corporation was under the Municipal Commissioner. At that time, Municipal Commissioner Varun Chaudhary, posted in Haridwar Municipal Corporation, was holding the responsibility.

During this time, the Municipal Corporation had bought 33 bighas of land located in Haridwar. For what purpose the 33 bighas of land was bought has not been clarified yet.

At the time the particular 33-bigha land was purchased, things were fine. But around the time the land of 33 bighas was purchased, the Municipal Corporation was already turning the surrounding areas into a space for dumping garbage.

In such a situation, the land price should have been at a much lower rate than purchased. The Municipal Corporation spent Rs 54 crores from the government budget. No one knew why the land that should have cost a pittance was bought by paying crores of rupees.

After this, Haridwar Municipal Corporation elections were held. The BJP got the chair of the Municipal Corporation. Gradually, the land purchase case became public and the news of corruption spread fast like wildfires in the city. The political opponents also started openly criticising why the money of the common people was misused in such a manner. The matter finally reached the office of the Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami.

In the last few months, the government has frozen land transaction accounts, suspended officials, and is also probing the role of retired clerk Vedpal and a senior finance officer, Nikita Bisht.