Ugly battle in ‘City Beautiful’

At the centre of the controversy is allotment of land to mega projects like Film City,Medical City,Theme-cum-Amusement Park and the Information Technology Park in Chandigarh. Allegations of irregularities and corruption have surfaced with regard to not just allotment of sites but also selection of companies. Gen (retd) S F Rodrigues,who was appointed UT Administrator-cum-Punjab Governor in 2004,had floated numerous proposals with the aim of getting metropolitan status to Chandigarh. His team of bureaucrats conceptualised and launched multi-crore projects in the city and unprecedented investment worth hundreds of crores was made in the setting up of the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park (which was originally envisioned by Rodrigues’s predecessor Lt. Gen. JFR Jacob),IT-habitat project Prideasia,Filmcity,Theme Park,Medicity and Education City.

When did it come under scrutiny?

The projects started running into rough weather in 2006 when the Filmcity project was advertised. Local social activist Hemant Goswami flooded the administration with applications seeking information on the mega projects,under the Right to Information Act. The CIC had to eventually intervene for the said information to be released. The projects attracted wider media scrutiny towards the end of 2006 and more questions were asked.

Who are the main players in the controversy?

Rodrigues,Chandigarh MP and Union Minster Pawan Kumar Bansal and the senior-most bureaucrat in the city Pradip Mehra are at the heart of the tussle. Mehra,who joined as UT Adviser in 2007,refused to toe Rodrigues’s line on the mega projects. He raised serious objections on the Medicity project and then recommended a CBI probe into the Filmcity project. Congress MP Pawan Kumar Bansal too took up cudgels on behalf of farmers who alleged the administration had paid them ‘peanuts’ for the prime land,which it planned to sell for crores to the private companies. Rodrigues,meanwhile,claimed that vested interests (read farmers whose land had been acquired at low rates) headed by Bansal were trying to run a smear campaign against him.

Where does Union Minister Ambika Soni figure in the controversy?

Rodrigues had raised objections on allotment of land to Delhi Public School in Sector 40,managed by the Bansal family. A Mohali resident,meanwhile,also approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court and raised objections over allotment of land to the DPS Society. The matter was admitted by the High Court,but is pending for hearing.

The recent twist in the controversy came when Rodrigues accused Soni of conniving with Bansal for launching a campaign to malign him. Rodrigues alleges that both ministers launched a smear campaign against him after he refused ‘favours’ for the DPS Society which is headed by Ambika Soni’s husband Udey Soni and has Soni and Bansal on the board.

What has been the impact of the alleged scam?

Projects worth nearly Rs 3,000 crore have come to a standstill in Chandigarh with the CVC putting on hold the controversial projects in January and marking a probe into the multi-crore investment in Chandigarh during Rodrigues’s tenure. The MHA,which had also ordered a special audit on all the projects initiated during Rodrigues’s tenure,pointed out serious lapses in the administration’s functioning and accused the bureaucracy of causing losses to the tune of crores to the exchequer. The CVC finally directed the CBI to probe the conceptualisation and allotment of two mega projects — Theme park and Filmcity. A group of influential citizens including former judges of High Court,senior advocates,businessmen,educationists approached the Centre last year,asking it to revert to the Chief-Commissionerate system for the city instead of the Punjab Governor being in- charge.