26th Feb. 2013
To
Hon'ble Lt. Governor
National Capital Territory of Delhi
New Delhi
Sub. – Regarding biased inquiry into Unipole issue
Respected Sir,
This
is with reference to Inquiry report forwarded by Commissioner EDMC and submitted
to him by Shri J.B. Singh in respect to irregularities, negligence of duty and
corruption in EDMC’s advertisement department.
I
am deeply disappointed and sad by the manner Mr. J.B. Singh has tried to not
only save his fellow officials but has also ignored the facts, violated all
principals of independent inquiry and has even praised and appreciated the
officials who were caught red handed during that surprise visit in presence of
media.
Through
this report he is not only trying to favour the officials responsible for
illegal unipoles in the EDMC area but is also trying to “bluff” the people, media,
elected representatives, Commissioner of EDMC, Director Local Bodies and
Hon’ble Lt. Governor, who all are keenly observing the progress in this case.
Here
are some obvious questions and observations:-
- First of all, I would like to ask
why Mr. J.B. Singh was given the responsibility to carry out the inquiry
when we have a specialized vigilance department for the same. From the
report it is very clear that Mr. J.B. Sing was not only handling his
regular EDMC work but has some extra responsibilities as well like
“Election Duty” in Tripura (Page no. 4, Point 9). Why the responsibility of Inquiry
into such a serious issue has been given to an officer who was available
only “part-time” for this inquiry and not to the vigilance department that
has required skill, expertise and experience of carrying out similar
inquiries?
- Why an officer that has a close
working relationship with “officials under inquiry” has been asked to
carry out the inquiry? I am raising these questions not only because it
is in violation of basic principles of independent inquiry and justice
but also in this specific case, this is an important reason behind the
biased nature of this inquiry.
- In his report Mr. J.B. Singh has gone
into history of advertisement department and work in last 7 months. I am
not able to understand the purpose behind this as he was asked to inquire
into specific cases of illegal unipoles only. Throughout his report he has
tried to draw a colourful performance chart of the advertisement
department officials. Let me remind him here that improvement
in performance has taken place in all EDMC departments in last Ten months
and that can’t be a justification for irregularities, negligence and
corruption.
- The most shocking part of the inquiry is
that next day of my surprise visit which has exposed the high number of
illegal unipoles, same officials were asked to carry out Inspection
against whom the inquiry was being conducted.
- In my letter to Commissioner, I
have clearly written that five officials including the Deputy
Commissioner, Commercial Officer, Chief Advertisement Officer (CAI), and
two area inspectors should be suspended to ensure a fair and independent
inquiry. Out of these five, Four Officials were part of the inspection
team that was asked to submit a report on the status. And to begin with, this inspection was
directed by the Deputy Commissioner, the fifth officer in the list. (Pls
refer to Annexure C, Para. 1)
- Same officials were carrying out
the inspection against whom the inquiry was being conducted and Mr. J.B.
Singh has not only happily accepted their report but is also highlighting
the fact that inspection team has found only 6 illegal unipoles next day. What
else was he expecting from the people under inquiry?
This is clear violation of all
guidelines and principles of independent inquiry and can not be accepted.
- Another shocking aspect of this
inquiry is that Mr. J.B. Singh has tried to carry out this investigation
by solely depending upon the facts given to him by officials under
inquiry. He has never tried to reach out to media teams who have
covered the surprise visit and have exposed the rampant irregularities,
nor has he reached out to any elected representative of that area.
- Another very shocking and hard
to believe fact about this inquiry is that throughout his inquiry report
Mr. J.B. Singh has stressed on the fact that there were only 6 illegal
unipoles found by inspection team and my complaint has no evidence,
however he conveniently forgets to mention that EDMC’s Commercial Officer
Mr.Vinit Gautam himself has written letter to four police stations on 16th
Jan. 2013, asking to register cases against 10 commercial units for
illegal unipoles. The question is if the inquiry report is right and
there were only 6 illegal unipoles found by the team, then why the case
has been registered against 10 commercial units? This is just one more
example of how Mr. Singh has mentioned only convenient facts, and completely
ignored even the reports and facts which were out there in media and
public domain.
- Mr. J.B. Singh has come to my
office on 21st of January for few minutes and has hurriedly
summed up his report on 24th Jan. 2013. I was also surprised
why suddenly almost two weeks after the surprise visit Mr. J.B. Singh is
asking me to give my version. All
this while the officials were given a free hand to play with the facts,
carry out their own inspection.
- In his report point no. 14, Mr. J.B.
Singh has even used some highly objectionable and careless language about
me, “if the matter was so important, she should have….etc.” The language
is not only derogatory to the Public Post that I am currently serving but
is also an attempt to divert the attention from the real issue under
inquiry.
It is difficult to understand what he
is trying to prove here.
a.
Does he as inquiry officer was of the view that the matter is
not important?
b.
Was he ignorant of the fact that it was me as Mayor of
East Delhi who has organized a surprise visit and exposed the corruption?
c.
This is a clear attempt to questioning back the “whistle
blower”.
d.
If this is the attitude of Inquiry Officer towards me, I
can imagine how difficult would it be for a common man to lodge a complaint and
get an independent inquiry.
- Now coming to the very basic flaws in
this inquiry report:-
I.
At point no. 7 in his report, Mr. J.B. Singh has mentioned a
letter to UP irrigation department sent by EDMC but in the annexure he fails to
provide any proof of that letter. Only letter in the annexure to UP irrigation
by EDMC is dated on 11-01-2013, three days after the surprise visit.
II.
What made Mr. Singh to believe and even mention such a letter
in his report without even seeing a copy of the same as an inquiry officer?
III.
Mr. Singh has repeatedly talked of inspection visit by
officers under inquiry and based on that inspection report and only by facts
given by same officials, he has concluded that the complaint is not
established.
IV.
More than 40% part of his report is all about history and how
well the advertisement department is functioning, the purpose of same is still
unclear in an inquiry report like this.
V.
At point no. 6, in his report Mr. Singh has talked about
actions by advertisement department against unauthorized advertisement. Here
again, he has solely relied upon the facts shared by same officials who are
under inquiry. He should have provided the details of these actions
including team members who have gone for the action, their attendance records,
records of vehicles used for these actions, records of items seized by EDMC
during these actions etc.
VI.
While all the time was given to officials under inquiry, Mr.
Singh has not given me time to share some of the evidence that I have neither
has he approached any media channels or reporters who have extensively covered
the expose.
VII.
Mr. Singh was in hurry to save his colleagues, and may be
that was the objective was he has been given the responsibility to carry out
investigation, ignoring the expertise of vigilance department.
It
seems that instead of carrying out an independent inquiry, Mr. J.B. Singh was
trying to write a cover up story.
This report is nothing but failed attempt of a writer trying to write a
fiction and ending up writing a comedy script with a sad end.
This
inquiry report is clearly an attempt to cover up the irregularities and
corruption and highlights the deep rooted nexus between corrupt officials.
This report also highlights the need for independent vigilance and
investigation in all such cases.
What
all the more disappointing is that this report has been forwarded to me by the
Commissioner EDMC. I am sure due to his
busy schedule; he was not able to read this report as it was not possible for
anyone not to notice all these facts that clearly show the flaws, bias and lack
of application of basic principles of independent investigation in this inquiry
report.
When
I had decided to carry out the surprise visit and to bring the irregularities
and corruption to the notice of public, I was aware that this is not going to
be an easy battle. But I had never imagined that even an independent inquiry
would be so difficult that too at a time when the case is under the constant
vigil by media and people.
I
would appeal to Commissioner to intervene in this matter urgently as it is not
only boosting the morale of officials negligent of their duties but is also
affecting people’s faith in democratic institutions.
Immediate
action against officials directly responsible for illegal unipoles and an
independent and fair inquiry is the only way forward and there can be no
compromise on the same.
Now this matter is in the court of Commissioner of East Delhi, Director
Local Bodies, Hon’ble Lt. Governor,
Media and above all in the court of people who already in large numbers have come
forward supporting this initiative.
Sincerely Yours
Dr. Annapurna Mishra
Mayor
East Delhi
