SDMC Commissioner appears before House panel

SDMC Commissioner Puneet Goel today appeared before the Delhi Assembly panel examining utilisation of MLALAD funds, where his replies were described as attempts to "pass the buck" and make others "scapegoat".

AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, an alleged incorrect reply to whose August 28 House question is at the centre of the slugfest, said Goel made an appearance before the panel after "evading" two previous sessions and "started on a positive note".

"However, he could not explain as to why his decision to refer to the SDMC Standing Committee the question of utilising funds should not be considered a political one when he had the authority to act on his own. Commissioners of EDMC and North DMC are using these powers," Bhardwaj said.
 

Bhardwaj claimed that according to a 2014 notification, the Commissioners of the civic bodies have the requisite powers to act on funds to the tune of even Rs 5 crore. According to SDMC, the ceiling is Rs 25 lakh.

"It seems that he unilaterally decided that his power to act was limited to Rs 25 lakh. Why should we not think that he was attempting a political interference by involving the Standing Committee," Bhardwaj said.

Bhardwaj also said that when asked to pinpoint the individual behind the alleged false response filed to a question posed by him in the House, Goel "zeroed in on an executive engineer".

The Greater Kailash MLA, who is also a member of the eight-member Question and Reference Committee headed by Delhi Assembly Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla, said the panel has proof that the engineer was on leave that particular day.

"The official was made the scapegoat as he has taken transfer to the Flood and Irrigation department. He was on leave that day as his father was ill. The panel took everything on record," he said.

The AAP legislator said that the Chief Legal Officer of SDMC, who accompanied Goel among others, denied that that the panel was "harassing" its officials, an assertion made by the Standing Committee of the civic body.

Last week, the committee had recommended contempt proceeding against Goel and Principal Secretary (Urban Development) for not having appeared before it.

When asked, Goel said he usually clears all proposals of the MLAs and take steps towards executing their projects.

"As far as the case of open gym is concerned, we had referred a Rs 19 crore tender to the Standing Committee (of SDMC). The committee only disallowed the MLALAD portion. It is their prerogative and I cannot do anything in this regard. But we are going to re-submit the proposal again," Goel said.