Patiala Land Scandal: Suspended IAS Officer Vikas Garg Receives Bail
With the failure of the bureau of vigilance for presenting a challan in the court, the main accuse of the land scam Patiala, the former deputy commissioner Vikasa Garg was given bail this morning. The IAS official had applied for the pre arrest bail earlier but it was rejected by High court as well as the Supreme Court, after which he had been arrested on 14th March.
The bureau of vigilance failed a challan in this case which was filed against 3 other men accused on 9th May. It was planning for filing a substitute challan also against Garg, before his ninety day period in the jail ended.
The senior superintendent of Police (SSP) Pritama Singh, VB Patiala, said that the bureau was not able to present the challan due to certain sanctions which were yet to be received. He denied any other statement.
Sources highly placed told that the officials of VB had also prepared a final Challan for the case which had been cleared by the headquarters of VB in Chandigarh.
â€But, the personnel section did not turn back the file together with the authorization to challan the administrator. As a result, the VB could not confront his appeal for bail bond in the court.â€
“While the State administration is quite capable to grant the approval in cases of other charged, the support from the administration of the country is required in the case of the IAS administrator,†stated the spokespersons.
On 9th May, the VB Patiala submitted a challan protesting Yashpal Agarwal, Devindra Sandhu, Jaswanta Singh, who were believed to be the middle men in the deal of the land, one day before the judicial remand of the accused was suppose to end.
Garg was, allegedly instrumental in the marking of the Government owned six thousand square yards of the land on the grand post office road in Patiala, as a private property for allowing its sale further. “Every representative who has been charged in the case has shifted the charge on Vikas stating that he had pushed them for marking the land to be private,†added the sources.
The Case
On 9th November 2012, an FIR was registered against the former DC Vikasa Garg and the nine other accused.
The FIR was registered after the orders from the Chief Minister Parkasha Singh Badal.
The FIR had also mentioned the names of NP Singh, Yashpala Agarwal, Devinder Singh Sandhu, Ravdeep Singha and Jaswanata Singha as the middle men in the land deal.
All the efforts were on the arrest of NP Singh as well as Ravdip Singh who are the proclaimed accused of the case.
On 9th November last year, the Bureau registered a case, under section 409, 467, 420, 471, 120 BIPC and 13 of the prevention of corruption act at the police station VB Patiala against Garg, 4 former revenue officers of Patiala and 5 private individuals for fraudulent sale of the land of the government.
Garg also made efforts for securing pre arrest bail from the High Court on 21st December last year which was denied. He then tried in the apex court but there also his plea for relief was denied.
