New Delhi, Aug 14 (PTI) A panel comprising senior Delhi government officers has recommended the suspension of a DANICS-cadre officer and major penalty proceedings against him for allegedly providing benefits to private parties in land acquisition for the construction of north Delhi's Rani Jhansi flyover, officials said on Monday.

The allegations against the officer of the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Island Civil Services (DANICS) cadre are related to his tenure as the additional district magistrate (land acquisition collector) in the city government.

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Since the officer concerned belongs to Group A, his case will be referred to the National Capital Civil Services Authority, which, as per section 45(H)(2) of the Government of NCT Of Delhi Act, 1991, is the competent authority for recommending disciplinary actions, a senior Delhi government official said.

The four-member committee of senior IAS officers of the Delhi government – the additional chief secretary of the land and building department, principal secretary of revenue, MCD commissioner and the vigilance secretary – found alleged irregularities in the construction of the flyover and submitted its report to the chief secretary on August 11, the officials said.

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The committee observed in its report that the "misconduct" of the officer concerned was "serious" in nature.

"He should be suspended and major penalty proceedings may be initiated against him," it said in its report.

After a long delay of nearly two decades, the flyover was opened for public use in 2018. The 1.8-km grade separator connected the Filmistan Cinema hall with St Stephen's Hospital in north Delhi.

It was constructed by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which now is part of the unified MCD, at a cost of Rs 724 crore.

The construction of the flyover was delayed amid allegations of corruption and problems related to land acquisition.

Earlier, a Lokpal bench on November 3, 2022, had asked the Central Vigilance Commission to take note of available documents and ongoing court cases and fix responsibility and recover excess payments related to the construction of the flyover, the officials said.

The committee observed that an excess compensation award was passed by the then land acquisition collector in two cases without taking note that the land parcels were actually given to the current owners on lease.

It noted that there might have been urgency to complete the long pending flyover project but the agencies involved should have been careful and factored in the status of land, its owners, lease, its tenure and other terms and conditions before awarding the compensation towards acquisition.

"Not only the land acquisition collector had the information of the status of the land but he also had the objections from the MCD on the matter and yet, he went on to pass an award containing gross irregularities," said the report.

The then land acquisition collector had full facts with him yet passed awards "enriching private parties, benefitting wrong parties, causing financial bungling in the process", the committee observed.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)