Delhi Vigilance Minister Atishi submitted a supplementary report to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday regarding corruption allegations against Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar. The report claimed that the bureaucrat tried to protect an official in the Bamnoli land acquisition matter, according to government sources. In the fresh report, Atishi reiterated her recommendation for the suspension of the chief secretary.
There was no immediate response from the chief secretary regarding the supplementary report. He had previously denied any wrongdoing, alleging that individuals with “vested interests” against whom vigilance action was taken for corruption were engaging in “mud-slinging.”
The matter revolves around alleged corruption in the acquisition of 19 acres of land in southwest Delhi’s Bamnoli village. In her initial report submitted to Kejriwal, Atishi alleged “prima facie complicity” of the chief secretary in the land acquisition matter.
The compensation for the 19-acre land was increased from Rs 41 crore to Rs 353 crore by former southwest Delhi district magistrate Hemant Kumar, as per the report.
In the supplementary report, Atishi alleged that “the chief secretary made all the efforts to save the DM. A paper chase was going on, and despite the facts, the district magistrate was not suspended.”
In her initial report, Atishi alleged that the chief secretary’s son, an employee of a company of the land owner’s relative, benefitted in the Bamnoli land acquisition.
The land was acquired for the Dwarka expressway by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in 2018, and the compensation was increased in May
this year.
