‘Tainted’ engineer gets a clean chit from Admn

In February 2008,an inquiry was initiated against a number of officials of the UT Engineering Department and Estate Office,including Gupta,for allegedly issuing completion and occupation certificates to several landowners,without verifying the facts. It was only after a local advocate,Vishal Sharma,filed a writ-petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking action against the “errant” officials that the Administration’s top-brass was issued showcause notices on February 7,2008. UT Home Secretary Krishna Mohan was asked to appear in person. A week later,UT Chief Engineer S K Jaitley issued a chargesheet against Gupta asking him to furnish a reply within 20 days. UT Advisor Pradip Mehra,being the disciplinary authority,had ordered a major penalty and stern action against Gupta. But a few months later,UT Administrator Gen S F Rodrigues (retd) ordered a fresh inquiry,which was handed it over to Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar,who was also the acting Home Secretary then. Kumar termed Gupta’s reply as “satisfactory” and exonerated him of all charges. At present,Gupta is incharge of maintenance of Punjab Raj Bhawan,the UT Advisor’s residence,Home Secretary’s residence and many other VIPs government accommodations in Sector 7. Sub-Divisional Engineer Vipin Gupta chose not to comment on the issue. “Please talk to my seniors in the department,” he said.

‘Conduct unbecoming of a govt employee’
The confidential chargesheet against Sub-Divisional Engineer Vipin Gupta (a copy of which is in possession of Chandigarh Newsline) contains several scathing remarks by the then UT Chief Engineer S K Jaitley. Jaitley,while quoting nearly half a dozen cases in which Gupta and other officials of the building branch allegedly indulged in misconduct,stated: “By doing so,SDE Vipin Kumar Gupta has failed to maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty,which is unbecoming of a government employee. He has violated the provisions of Rule 3 of the Government Employees (Conduct) Rules,1966,and is liable for disciplinary action in accordance with the provisions of the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules,1970 as made applicable to the employees of Chandigarh”.