Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday issued notices to eight officials including former chief secretary Antony DeSa seeking reply on transport expenses incurred during chief minister’s programme in Bhopal in 2016.
The notices have also been served on principal secretary (agriculture) Rajesh Rajora, director (agriculture) Mohanlal Mina, the then Harda Collector, the then Harda RTO, ATMA(Agriculture Technology Management Agency), director ATMA. They have been asked to reply in court on March 21.
The court has issued the notices on a PIL filed by Harda-based RTI activist Vijay Bajaj who alleging irregularities has sought details of the transport expenses incurred during the CM’s programme. Farmers from all across the state were brought to Bhopal for the CM’s function at Jamboori maidan on December 4, 2016. Antony DeSa, the chairman of Regulatory Authority (RERA) was chief secretary then. The government had sanctioned huge amount for bringing farmers from all districts of the state.
Bajaj’s Advocate Subhash Chandra Soni said the case pertains to Harda district. Here for the function, Rs 11.30 lakh was spent on transportation, out of which Rs 6.72 lakh was given to three fuel stations for diesel. However, the officials are unwilling to share information of Rs 4.5 lakh expenditure, the details of which are nowhere to be found, said Soni.
Alleging gross anomalies, RTI activist Bajaj said that none of the department is in position to give detail of the expenses.
“No one knows who ordered to acquire the buses, the number of busses acquired, the amount spent on it. Officials are mum over these issues,” said Bajaj.
This case is just about Harda district, and if entire state is taken into account, funds to the tunes of crores of rupees must have been misappropriated, said the activist. It is a matter of 51 districts and now the high court has issued notices and so the officials will have to clarify their stand on March 21, he added.
