KDMC officials suspended

MUMBAI, December 12: Suspension orders were finally served to the two Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation KDMC officials who were nabbe...

MUMBAI, December 12: Suspension orders were finally served to the two Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation KDMC officials who were nabbed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau on November 20, informed civic commissioner Madhukar Kokate.

The officials 8211; personal assistant to the MC, Jaywant Mhatre and Executive Engineer, Town Planning, Sunil Joshi 8211; were nabbed for accepting bribes totalling up to Rs 2,00,000.

Said Kokate, 8220;While it is true that procedurally it is not possible to suspend them, it is administrative policy to suspend such officials.8221; The official explanation for suspension is the failure on officials8217; part to satisfactorily explain the source of money found in their table drawers during the ACB raids.

While Kokate asserted that he was not under any political pressure to stop the suspensions, strong rumours made the rounds that the alliance government was putting pressure on the administration to stop the suspensions as the assembly session was round the corner. Fuelling this theory further is the fact that one of the officials 8211; Jaywant Mhatre 8211; is state tourism minister Jagannath Patil8217;s nephew.

While Sunil Joshi stayed incommunicado, Mhatre said, 8220;Please leave me alone. If you write anything ulta-seedha, I8217;ll get into further trouble. When the courts release from this case, I will call a press conference to tell people of all those who are involved in this racket.8221;

When asked whether he felt that there was any political pressure being used to manipulate the case and save him, he asked, 8220;Do you think that a raid or case would have at all happened if that were to be true?8221;

While promising efforts at increased transparency, Kokate promised that he would work toward recultivating the eroded confidence of the populace in the administration. He announced that he would meet officials and corporators only till 2.00 pm and the period between 4.00 to 5.00 would be reserved for citizens desirous of meeting him regarding any complaint redressal.