Delhi govt trying to shield high-profile people in scam: BJP

Alleging involvement of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and two of her Cabinet colleagues in the multi-crore transport scam, Delhi BJP today said there was a "conspiracy" by the government to shield high-profile people whose role in the irregularities have come to light.
"A large scale conspiracy is going on to protect the perpetrators of a massive transport scam," senior Delhi BJP leader Harsh Vardhan said.
He alleged that role of Dikshit, former transport ministers Haroon Yusuf and Arvinder Singh Lovely have also come to light during investigation into the scam by Anti Corruption Branch of Delhi Government.
Yusuf has rejected the allegations as totally "baseless" and politically motivated.

The BJP leader said there should also be a probe against current Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami, alleging that he was making "illegal efforts" to scuttle the probe and protect the "high profile culprits".
"Concrete evidence have been obtained through RTI not only against Sheila Dikshit, Haroon Yusuf, Arvinder Singh Lovely but several IAS officers as well. In this context, the ACB had approached the Lt Governor for granting sanction to commence proceedings against concerned IAS and other senior officials but this sanction was surprisingly refused by the Lt Governor," he claimed.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Delhi government has been probing the alleged irregularities in award of fitness test of commercial vehicles to a private firm in 2008 without inviting any tender, the party said.

The case was registered in the scam on a complaint of RTI activist Vivek Garg alleging the contract for lane test of commercial vehicles for fitness certificates was given by the Delhi government to ESP India by flouting norms.
"Under political pressure, the junior officials are being unfairly targeted by the ACB to save the skin of high profile accused," said Vardhan.
The ACB had told the court that it was probing the role of government officials in alleged corruption in the case. The investigators has already issued notice to former Transport Commissioner R K Verma to join investigation into the alleged irregularities. Verma is now Power Secretary in Delhi Government.