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The allegations of links between Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and owners of a piece of land acquired for the Dwarka Expressway in the national capital, are "false and baseless", said Ashwani Kumar, Delhi Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue)/Divisional Commissioner on Monday.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, the Delhi Additional Chief Secretary said that the Chief Secretary's character is being assassinated. "This press conference had to be done because several misconceptions and lies are being spread. So, it is necessary that facts that are on record be presented before you and the truth reaches people. The lie is that character assassination of the Chief Secretary is being done, false and baseless allegations are being levelled against him," Ashwani Kumar said. He further said that Naresh Kumar has no role in awarding the contract or arbitration. "...Chief Secretary had no role in awarding (the contract), arbitration. Rather, he made proactive efforts for action to be taken. The action was ultimately precipitated..." he added. Earlier, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal directed the Vigilance Minister to get a "detailed enquiry" conducted with regard to a complaint alleging links between Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and owners of a piece of land acquired for the Dwarka Expressway. Following CM Kejriwal's directions, Vigilance Minister Atishi wrote to the Director of Vigilance and Divisional Commissioner regarding the alleged corruption involving Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar. Earlier, the Delhi High Court nullified an award of over Rs 300 crore issued by District Magistrate (DM) Hemant Kumar, who was suspended from his position, in a matter of compensation for land acquisition in Bamnoli village, southwest Delhi on Dwarka Expressway. Kumar, a 2013-batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, had increased the compensation amount for a 19-acre land acquisition by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) from Rs 41.5 crore to Rs 353.8 crore during his tenure as the district magistrate of southwest Delhi. The High Court's decision was based on the observation that the District Magistrate had made this award without giving the NHAI an opportunity to refute the additional documents submitted by the awardee, Subhash Chand Kathuria, a fact admitted by Kathuria's counsel in court. The court held that the award was issued in blatant violation of the principles of natural justice and contained patent illegalities. The implementation of this award would have imposed an additional financial burden of Rs 312.3 crore on the government. (ANI)
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