Delhi IAS Officers Face Vigilance Inquiry in DPS CGHS Corruption Case
Delhi IAS Officers Face Vigilance Inquiry in DPS CGHS Corruption Case
Corruption Case of DPS Cooperative Group Housing Society (DPS CGHS), Plot No. 16, Sector 4, Dwarka, New Delhi 110 078
While the legal cases against the DPS CGHS MC members are quite active at various courts and law-enforcement agencies, their prosecution or punishment is getting delayed because the justice delivery system is very slow in India.
March 15, 2019
By Rakesh Raman
The ongoing corruption scandal at DPS CGHS is increasingly drawing the attention of India’s top law-enforcement agencies, police, and anti-corruption departments.
In a new development, Delhi’s leading IAS officers have now come under the vigilance scanner because they failed to prosecute the accused managing committee (MC) members* of DPS CGHS and their accomplices. [ Names given below. ]
As a journalist and social activist, I have been constantly approaching different law-enforcement agencies to get the culprits in the DPS CHGS scam caught and punished.
I have submitted a number of evidentiary documents with dates and references to various government departments about corruption and illegal activities being committed by the DPS CHGS MC members and their accomplices. I have also called the law-enforcement officers in DPS CHGS premises to interrogate the corrupt DPS CHGS MC members.
As a result, the DPS CHGS MC members have already been indicted and penalized by the courts in some cases where they have broken the laws. As their frauds have not yet stopped, the accused DPS CHGS MC members are currently facing many other cases in different courts and government departments.
Moreover, I am in the process of sharing more evidences with police and law-enforcement agencies about the crimes being committed by the DPS CHGS MC members and their accomplices.
Now, the Directorate of Vigilance (DOV) of Delhi Government – which investigates serious cases of corruption – informed me through its letter dated 22.02.19, routed through India’s top anti-corruption department Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), that it wants to further investigate the DPS CHGS case. The case was listed for 15.03.2019. [ Exhibit 1 ]
The DOV has planned an inquiry against Udai Pratap Singh (IAS), former Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority (DDA); J.B. Singh (IAS), former Registrar at the office of Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS); and Jayadev Sarangi (IAS), RCS.
These officers – along with other officials at DDA and RCS offices – have been responsible for the extreme crime and corruption at DPS CGHS, as they failed to take punitive action against the accused in this case.
Moreover, the Office of the Chief Vigilance Officer at DDA has directed Director (Building) to investigate the DPS CGHS corruption case, as the DPS CGHS members could have bribed the DDA officials for taking approvals for an illegal floor area ratio (FAR) construction and repairs project.
Organized Crime Racket
The DPS CGHS MC members – supported by a group of rogue residents – are planning the FAR construction in a fraudulent way to extort public money by intimidating the residents who are opposing this FAR construction which has been deceptively linked by MC members with building repairs.
In order to deceive the authorities and Society members whose money is being looted by the DPS CGHS MC, the secretary M.N. Sampathkumar circulated a letter dated 24.08.2018 in which he informed about the formation of some perfunctory sub-committees to carry out the illegal construction work in the Society.
According to the said letter, the names of members in different sub-committees are M.M. Shukla, Anil Taneja, Dilip Rozekar, Madhukar Akhilesh, Lal Singh Thakur, Kaloria, C.B. Swami, Vikash Prasad, K.L. Narayanan, S.K.Kalani, Neelam Singh, Ravinder Sharma, Anil Sharma, Vinu Dua, Dr. Alok Varshney, Dr. Bilalla, and K. Randhawa.
While these members know that the DPS CGHS MC which has formed these sub-committees is facing corruption inquiries and losing legal cases for their financial and other regularities, they decided to join hands with the MC for committing more irregularities in the Society. All these sub-committee members are accomplices / abettors in the crime of DPS CGHS MC.
While the names of DPS CGHS MC members appear as history-sheeters (accused / criminals) in many government files, surprisingly they are shamelessly mocking the criminal investigations against them.
Illegal Activities and Jail Term
The DPS CGHS MC members are misusing their positions to hold fake General Body Meetings (GBMs) in which their gang members support their illegal activities. However, each and every decision that they show in their GBMs is being examined carefully for the laws that they are breaking.
And there is a big possibility that by the time they embark upon their misadventure of FAR construction or repairs, the DPS CGHS MC members and some of their close accomplices (who are supporting them financially or in fraudulent GBMs) will be in jail.
While FAR construction is illegal, the members who are paying money to the MC for FAR work will be participating in MC’s fraud, and those members will also face prosecution and possible imprisonment for abetment to crime.
Under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 107, “a person becomes liable as an abettor if he/she instigates another to commit a crime, or engages in a conspiracy with another to commit a crime and some act is done in furtherance of such conspiracy or if he/she intentionally aids another in order to facilitate the commission of a crime.”
Along with DDA and RCS officials who seem to be part of the criminal racket at DPS CGHS, the corrupt officials at Delhi Fire Service (DFS) and Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) are also being questioned because they presumably gave permission for FAR construction and repairs blindly – without following the statutory rules.
The accused government officials as well as the MC members of DPS CGHS (and their accomplices such as architect firms, contractors, internal sub-committee members, abettors, etc.) will be prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act and other crime-prevention laws.
THE PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2018 states that:
For sections 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the principal Act, the following sections shall be substituted, namely:—
‘‘7. Any public servant who,—
(a) obtains or accepts or attempts to obtain from any person, an undue advantage, with the intention to perform or cause performance of public duty improperly or dishonestly or to forbear or cause forbearance to perform such duty either by himself or by another public servant; or
(b) obtains or accepts or attempts to obtain, an undue advantage from any person as a reward for the improper or dishonest performance of a public duty or for forbearing to perform such duty either by himself or another public servant; or
(c) performs or induces another public servant to perform improperly or dishonestly a public duty or to forbear performance of such duty in anticipation of or in consequence of accepting an undue advantage from any person…
shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.
The amended Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act now also extends to punish bribe givers under offence relating to bribing of a public servant.
Since this is a case of white-collar crime, according to criminal law, no direct evidence is required to prove the offence. Only the circumstantial evidence in terms of non-compliance of different regulations should be enough to prosecute, catch, and punish the culprits.
It is a clear case of corruption at DPS CGHS, as the Vigilance Manual 2017 of India’s top anti-corruption organization Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) states that:
Corruption is manifested in various forms such as bribery, nepotism, willful action or willful inaction to benefit someone or to deny benefit to someone known or unknown. It also states that corruption includes cases of favoritism and failure to follow laid down processes leading to unintended benefit to someone or denial of benefit to the deserving.
Proof of Corruption at DPS CGHS
The cunning DPS CGHS MC members are trying to deceive the naive and gullible residents of the Society by saying that there is no proof of corruption. But the law – as stated above – clearly shows that rampant corruption has been happening at DPS CGHS. And the government investigations are happening because I have submitted sufficient proofs of crime and corruption at DPS CGHS to law-enforcement agencies.
Moreover, the DPS CGHS MC members have admitted that corruption / fraud has been happening at DPS CGHS. But in order to save their own skin, the present MC members are trying to obstruct the RCS inquiry deceptively by putting the blame on previous MCs.
According to a letter dated January 14, 2018, the DPS CGHS MC had even constituted a sub-committee of some ordinary residents to investigate an old “case of fraud” involving Rs. 55 lakh.
The letter states that the General Body approved the suggestion of a resident Dilip Rozekar; and Vipul Khullar, Ravinder Sharma, and Madhukar Akhilesh volunteered to be the part of this sub-committee.
However, even after more than one year of this committee formation, the MC has neither released the report of the sub-committee nor has it informed about the progress of investigation. This deceptive decision was taken to ward off the inquiry ordered by RCS office.
These Society members – Dilip Rozekar, Vipul Khullar, Ravinder Sharma, and Madhukar Akhilesh – will separately be interrogated to know their involvement in this case with the motive to obstruct the RCS inquiry.
While the official documents and audited reports of DPS CGHS reveal major cases of corruption and misappropriation of funds, the DPS CGHS MC members are tampering with official records or destroying them in order to conceal their crimes.
In order to hide their criminality, the accused DPS CGHS MC members are even violating the RTI Act by blocking the RTI queries about their corruption. They are also misusing their control over the DPS CGHS website to spread falsehood and intimidate other members.
While the corruption money involved in the DPS CGHS case is estimated to be Rs. 20 crore (and corruption is still persisting), the past and present MC members of DPS CGHS have been committing many other crimes.
Their criminal activities include corruption, fraud, cheating, bribery, intimidation, illegal surveillance, breach of privacy, illegal car parking, labour / human rights violations, illegal appointment of vendors, environmental damage, defiance of court orders, obstruction of justice, and so on.
As the case is progressing to recover the corruption money amounting to over Rs. 20 crore from MC members and/or their legal heirs besides their imprisonment, the RCS office informed me through its letter dated 20.02.19 that it had fixed the hearing in this case on 07.02.2019. But since the Special Registrar in RCS court got transferred, the hearing could not take place. [ Exhibit 2 ]
Although the case is getting delayed, the noose is gradually tightening around the necks of DPS CGHS MC members and their accomplices.
On 27.02.2019, some more members of the DPS CGHS have filed a legal case in the Court of Financial Commissioner (a superior authority to RCS) to get the case expedited, while they have levelled serious corruption charges on DPS CGHS MC members and their supporters.
Sanction for Filing Criminal Case
Moreover, the aggrieved residents of DPS CGHS who are being tortured by the DPS CGHS MC members have filed a sanction petition in the RCS court for filing a criminal case against the accused DPS CGHS MC members in the external / higher courts so that they could be immediately prosecuted and punished.
It is believed that DPS CGHS MC members are trying to surreptitiously influence the corruption inquiries against them, as they claim that they can use their connections to obstruct the corruption inquiries.
But the accused DPS CGHS MC members must know that it will not be possible for them to evade the long arm of law. While the cases against them are quite active at various courts and law-enforcement agencies, the prosecution of DPS CGHS MC members is getting delayed because the justice delivery system is very slow in India.
While I am getting regular information from government departments which are investigating the DPS CGHS scam case, the objective is to recover the corruption money of Rs. 20 crore (which is increasing everyday) from the DPS CGHS MC members and get them jailed for a few years.
The DPS CGHS MC members continue to break many other laws with their crimes such as intimidation to residents, imposition of financial penalties on the petitioners who are filing legal cases against them, and conspiracy to hurt others. Therefore, along with jail term, the punishment to DPS CGHS MC members may also include their assets freeze, travel ban, and attachment of their property while some past and present MC members may have assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
If the government officials at RCS office, DDA, or other government departments tried to protect the accused at DPS CGHS under any influence, they will have to face the legal consequences – like the IAS officers are now facing DOV / CVC inquiry as stated above.
While the case for the supersession (termination) of DPS CGHS MC is already under way at RCS court, the final objective of the case is to get the culprits (DPS CGHS MC members and their accomplices) arrested and imprisoned.
If such anti-social elements are allowed to move freely in public, they can pose a serious threat to the peace and tranquility in the society. Their arrest and imprisonment, therefore, is essential to maintain public order.
*Main accused against whom different complaints have been filed:
Current MC Members of DPS CGHS:
- President: Neeraj Kumar Vaish
- Vice President: R. Balasubramanian
- Secretary: M.N. Sampathkumar
- Member: Ms. Leela Swami
- Member: Sandeep Taneja
- Member: Manguram Tyagi
- Member: Ms. Naseem Afshaque
Past MC Members of DPS CGHS:
- President: M.M. Shukla
- Vice President: Neeraj Kumar Vaish
- Member: Ms. Geeta Gautam
- Member: Ms. Leela Swami
- Member: R.K. Saggi
- Member: H.L. Kaul
- Member: K.L. Narayanan
Past MC Members of DPS CGHS against whom the government inquiry has been initiated through the RCS office and directed by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Directorate of Vigilance of Delhi Government. The MCs have still not responded to the inquiry.
CVC Inquiry Letter References:
RCS: F.47/Coop./1350/GH/SW/2011/7051 dated 4.5.2011
Directorate of Vigilance: F.27/2/2011/DOV/1080 dated 15.2.2011 forwarded by CVC
CVC: O.M. No. 1716/10/8/104428 dated 01.10.2010 and O.M. No. 1716/10/8/117161 dated 24.01.2011
The MC members facing this inquiry are:
- President: R. Balasubramanian
- Vice President: K.V. Varghese
- Secretary: Neeraj Kumar Vaish
- Treasurer: Sandeep Taneja
- Member: Ms. Leela Swami
- Member: Ms. Manjit Kaur
- Member: Gaurav Kumar Sood
Important: Particularly, the focus is on the fact that Neeraj Kumar Vaish, R. Balasubramanian, Sandeep Taneja, M.M. Shukla, Ms. Naseem Afshaque, Ms. Leela Swami have been holding MC positions repeatedly in successive MCs. While they are not doing any specific work to improve the cooperative living or welfare of the society, they have some personal interests to stay in the MC which controls public money worth crores of rupees.
Threats to Me: In order to thwart my anti-corruption efforts and suppress my voice that I have been raising against their crimes, the accused MC members of DPS CGHS have been sending multiple threats to me. These include false police complaints against me, threats of physical harm to me, expulsion notices, legal notices, and slanderous attacks on my social as well as professional status to defame me. But I am not deterred and I will keep fighting truthfully against their crimes and corruption to get the culprits arrested and imprisoned.
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Announcement I will also publish this case report in the “Clean House” anti-corruption social service that I run and The Integrity Bulletin newsletter which covers Indian and international corruption news and issues. |
In order to fully understand the criminality at DPS CGHS, you may click the following link to study different cases along with supporting documents.
[ Humanitarian Crisis Persists at DPS Housing Society in Delhi ]
Link: http://www.ramanmedianetwork.com/humanitarian-crisis-persists-at-dps-housing-society-in-delhi/
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He also creates and publishes a number of digital publications on different subjects.
About Me – Rakesh Raman
Rakesh Raman is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page column regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group).
Nowadays, for the past about 8 years, he has been running his own global news services on different subjects. He also has formed a free Education and Career Counselling Center for deserving children at a poor J.J. Colony in Dwarka, New Delhi under his NGO – RMN Foundation.
He runs an exclusive community-driven anti-corruption social service “Clean House” to help the suffering residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice. He also has formed an environment-protection group called Green Group in Delhi.
He creates and distributes a number of digital publications that cover areas such as technology, law, environment, education, politics, corruption and transparency. He has created a comprehensive online information service to educate the Indian voters for the upcoming Lok Sabha election scheduled to happen in 2019.
Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.
Contact
Rakesh Raman
463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4
Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 078
INDIA
You may please contact me on my email.
Exhibit 1
Exhibit 2
