By IANS
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Friday dismissed the application of former New Delhi municipal chief P.M. Singh seeking quashing of a criminal compliant against him for his alleged involvement in corrupt practices.
Dismissing the plea, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat said: “I find no infirmity or illegality in the reasoning of the special judge. This petition, therefore, fails and is dismissed without any order or cost.”
On Thursday, the judge upheld the order of the trial court which took cognisance of the charge-sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Singh.
Singh, a 1972 batch IAS officer, has been charged by the CBI for misuse of his official position and granting, against the rules, licence for regularisation of the Centre Point Hotel on a residential plot in Connaught Place during his tenure as New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) chief.
Singh in his application contended that the charge-sheet was filed without obtaining approval of the central government, which was necessary in case of senior bureaucrats, according to the amended Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003, and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“It was lawful for the CBI to conduct the investigation without any such approval,” Justice Bhat said.
The charge-sheet was filed against Singh, former chief architect Tribhuwan Singh, architect N.K. Sharma, assistant engineer Subash Chandra (all of NDMC), and purported proprietor K.L. Bhatia and his wife Prem Lata Bhatia, who holds general power of attorney, in the special court under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code, and 13(2) and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The NDMC had on June 30 granted health and lodging house licence to the Centre Point Hotel at Kasturba Gandhi Marg flouting municipal rules, the CBI charge-sheet said. The case was registered by the CBI on July 9, 2003, against Singh and the other officials of the NDMC.
During its probe, the agency claimed to have found that in 1927, a plot of 1.357 acres was originally allotted on perpetual lease to a barrister. The ownership changed a few times thereafter, and the land was last transferred in 1977 to a business family. The premises were a residential property, but a 60-room hotel was run there since 1979 by its current owners, initially as tenants, and later as holders of general power of attorney for the property, it said.
It was found that according to the Zonal Master Plans of Delhi, the area was specifically earmarked for residential purposes. But the Bhatias allegedly raised a huge four-storey structure and applied to the NDMC for its regularisation.