HC tells CBI to probe NRHM funds in UP

The court also directed the CBI to complete the inquiry within four months and asked the state and Central governments to render full support to the investigating agency.

A Bench comprising Justices Pradeep Kant and Ritu Raj Awasthi,while passing the order on three PILs,said,“We are prima facie convinced that gross irregularities — financial and administrative — appear to have been committed in the execution and implementation of NRHM,including the matter of award of contracts,procurement of goods and articles at various levels.’’

The facts and circumstances make out a case for reference to the CBI for a preliminary inquiry,the judges said.

While the state government had opposed the petitioners’ demand for a CBI inquiry,saying it had ordered a special audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India,the Central government had supported it.

The PILs,which were filed by Sachchidanand,Jagdish Narain Shukla and Advocate Anand Vikram,alleged gross abuse and misappropriation of NRHM funds by state functionaries in a planned manner. One of the petitions,however,was specific to Pilibhit district.

Earlier,on July 27,the High Court had ordered CBI to investigate two cases of financial irregularities in the implementation of NRHM in Lucknow CMO’s office which surfaced after the murder of former CMO B P Singh in Gomti Nagar on April 2. Before that,Dr Singh’s predecessor CMO Vinod Arya was shot dead in Arya Nagar on October 27 last year.

Former Dy CMO Dr Y S Sachan,who was first arrested for financial irregularities in the implementation of NRHM in the Lucknow office and later booked in both murders,was found dead in mysterious circumstances in Lucknow jail on the night of June 22.