Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sought a report from the Vigilance Minister on a complaint alleging Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar’s son was employed by a relative of a landowner who received enhanced compensation for land acquired for a road project, official sources said on Friday. There was no immediate reaction to the matter from Kumar.
The Chief Minister marked the complaint, received by the Delhi government in October, to Vigilance Minister Atishi and sought a detailed report on it with facts, they said.
A 19-acre plot of land at Bamnoli village in southwest Delhi was acquired by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the construction of the Dwarka Expressway in 2018, and an initial award of Rs 41.52 crore was decided by the district authorities.
The landowners had challenged the compensation, and finally it was raised to Rs 353.79 crore by South West Delhi district magistrate Hemant Kumar in May this year.
Kumar was later suspended by the Ministry of Home Affairs in the matter.
Also, the Delhi High Court recently set aside the award of Rs 353.79 crore.
It was alleged by the complainant that the Delhi chief secretary’s son worked in a realty firm, the director of which was the son-in-law of Subhash Chand Kathuria, one of the owners of the land acquired in Bamnoli village.
The award was raised to Rs 353.79 crore on May 15. Divisional Commissioner Ashwani Kumar flagged the matter to the chief secretary on June 2, government officers said.
The chief secretary directed the divisional commissioner to monitor the matter on a fortnightly basis and later also asked the Directorate of Vigilance to probe it, they said.