High Court appoints commissioner to ‘inspect’ plots

The Allahabad High Court today appointed a court commissioner for ascertaining the current situation on the plots,which were allegedly given away at cheap prices to members of the hotel industry by the then NOIDA Chairman Rakesh Bahadur and Chief Executive Officer Sanjeev Saran,leading to a loss of Rs 4,700 crore to the exchequer.

The two officials held the posts between 2005 and 2007. They were appointed again on May 4 this year by the SP government and have since continued in their posts. The government had told the High Court on July 31 that their appointment would be re-considered only after the criminal and departmental inquiries against them were over. Earlier,on June 29,the court had asked the government to re-consider the appointments in the wake of the serious allegations against them while they were on the same posts.

The court passed the order while hearing a petition challenging the appointment of Bahadur and Saran on the same post by the SP government. Bahadur and Saran were accused of causing the alleged losses to the exchequer during their previous stint on the same post during the SP regime. During BSP’s regime,an FIR was registered against the two officials and they had also been suspended.

While their suspension was later revoked,police filed a final report in the case. However,the court did not accept the police report and the departmental inquiry against them had not been formally closed.