Delhi LG nod to probe against revenue officer for bribery

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has granted permission to conduct an enquiry under Section 17 A of the Prevention Corruption Act (PCA) 1988, against a sub-registrar of the Revenue Department, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) who has been accused of demanding bribes from applicants for official work.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has granted permission to conduct an enquiry under Section 17 A of the Prevention Corruption Act (PCA) 1988, against a sub-registrar of the Revenue Department, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) who has been accused of demanding bribes from applicants for official work. The complaints against Yogesh Gaur, the then Sub Registrar, Janak Puri, were lodged in the years 2019 and 2020.

According to an official press note from the LG's Office, "The LG said that in the interest of justice, there is a need to conduct an inquiry into the allegations made against Gaur and the Directorate of Vigilance should be directed to process the request received from the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), GNCTD, to do the same, after due diligence." As per the release, Saxena noted that there is irrefutable evidence of acts of omission and commission against the officer concerned.

The Directorate of Vigilance upon finding that the clarification in the matter related to the allegations raised by the complainant had not been provided by the Revenue Department and to bring out the truth, recommended an investigation/enquiry under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Directorate of Vigilance submitted that ACB has sought sanction to probe the matter under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act as the accused officer had been demanding and obtaining bribes and illegal gratification through his agents Naveen Baniwal and Rahul from the applicants who were coming for various registration purposes, it said.

As per the release, it was alleged that the accused officer keeps documents pending and clears them only after a bribe is paid to him. Two complaints by the same person were filed on 4.11.2019 and 19.3.2020. The second complaint alleged that the complainant had paid Rs 30,000 as a bribe through agent Rahul for registering of Mortgagee Deed on his Gulab Bagh property in Uttam Nagar. The bribe amount was collected for not affixing the stamp of "Booked Property" with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) due to unauthorised construction.

As far as the complaint dated 4.11.2019 is concerned, the allegation of the complainant that Gaur withholds documents without reason stands corroborated by the finding of the Committee constituted by the District West under the chairmanship of SDM (Rajouri Garden), said the release. The committee observed that the accused officer was found in possession of a large number of registered documents without bonafide reason, which shows his malafide intention. The DM (West) was also of the view that permission for investigation/inquiry is accorded.

As per this Committee's report, the accused officer has also been found to indulge in other acts such as opening office in late hours without information/permission of a higher officer, delivering documents without obtaining signatures of parties etc, which are irrefutable evidence of acts of omission and commission against him, said the release. (ANI)

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