KPT land scam: CBI begins probe,whistleblower’s findings the trigger

“Already,four cases have been registered against a few current and former KPT officials for issuing illegal lease involving some parts of total land. The preliminary inquiry will now look into the multi-crore scam involving the entire 16,000 acres of KPT land given on lease to salt companies,” said Pranav Sachdeva,counsel for Centre for Public Interest Litigation,which had moved the Delhi HC seeking a CBI inquiry.

The CBI counsel added that the agency has been awaiting prosecution sanction from the Shipping Ministry against KPT’s top current and former officials in four land scam cases that are currently being investigated by it. The CBI has filed a chargesheet in one case while it is in the process of filing chargesheets in other three.

The alleged scam involves 16,000 acres of land owned by KPT,which was given on lease to a handful of salt companies at throwaway rates without inviting tenders. The KPT,in an affidavit filed with the Delhi HC,had admitted that the lease for 37 of the 41 contracts had expired in 2004 and that for four decades,the renewal was being effected without auctions.

According to the writ filed in Delhi HC,the scam took place under the eyes of the Shipping Ministry and with the criminal connivance of senior ministry officials and of the KPT. The beneficiaries include a few industrialists and hoteliers in Gujarat,besides some officials in the ministry and the KPT.

The lid over this scam was blown in 2007 when the then deputy chairman and chief vigilance officer of KPT Manoranjan Kumar uncovered the entire chain and sent his reports to the Shipping Ministry and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Instead of acting on those reports,he was transferred by the Ministry,along with three other accused. The Central Administration Tribunal (CAT) termed the Ministry’s action “mala fide” and asked it to pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 to Manoranjan Kumar. Later,the Delhi High Court indicted the CVC for not acting on Kumar’s report.

The petition in the Delhi HC had annexed the report of Manoranjan Kumar,which said that in 1960s and 1970s,some 16,000 acres of land were leased out illegally and arbitrarily by the Shipping Ministry to a few parties on nominal rates,without any valuation or public auction,at throwaway prices. The leases were originally non-renewable and for a period of 30 years.

About 9,000 acres were transferred leading to a situation where most of the land came into the possession of a few beneficiary families.

Kumar’s report had further said that despite the fact that these leases were awarded illegally,the Ministry twice renewed the leases illegally,retrospectively in 1996 and 2000,for a period of four years.