Allahabad, Aug 9 (PTI) The High Court here has sought to know the reason for the delay in completion of a probe into the alleged scam in providing power connection to 144 villages in Uttar Pradesh's Bundelkhand region in 2019 and observed that the charges in the FIR are serious.

Hearing a PIL into the matter, the bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice S C Sharma granted more time to Additional Government Advocate Syed Ali Murtaza to seek appropriate instructions in the matter.

Also Read | Enforcement Directorate Files Money Laundering Case Against Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji.

"If the investigation could not have been completed due to lack of infrastructure with the police station concerned where the FIR was registered, the government should have transferred the matter to the agency which could have expedited the probe," the court said last Thursday.

It directed to list the case on August 24 for the next hearing.

Also Read | India Bridges Differences at UNSC, First-Ever Outcome Document on Maritime Security Under Its Presidency Mentions UNCLOS.

According to the petitioner, a contract was given to a Hyderabad-based company under Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Vidyutikaran Yojna to electrify as many as 144 villages of the Bundelkhand region's Jhansi.

It was alleged that the company in collusion with engineers of the state electricity department obtained payment without completing the work.

When the alleged scam came to light, an FIR was lodged in this connection on July 5, 2019. Subsequently, the vigilance department was entrusted with the task of investigating this scam involving several crores of rupees.

The PIL has alleged that the vigilance department is not doing its investigation properly and has requested the court to direct the Department to complete the probe at the earliest.

(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)