UP govt institutes judicial probe against senior IAS officer

The Uttar Pradesh government has instituted a judicial inquiry into charges of alleged corruption against the former chairman of the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority -- NOIDA -- and senior IAS officer, Neera Yadav.

The inquiry will be conducted by either a retired chief justice or a sitting judge of the Allahabad high court who will submit the report to the state government within three months.

Charges of serious irregularities in the allotment of plots in NOIDA have been levelled against Yadav. The Central Bureau of Investigation drew UP Governor Romesh Bhandari's attention to the irregularities last week, suggesting that suitable action be taken in the matter.

Raj Bhavan sources in Lucknow indicated that since the alleged scandal involved several senior civil servants in the state and at the Centre a judicial inquiry was preferred instead of a probe by the UP vigilance establishment.

Neera Yadav alleged last week that several senior IAS officers had grabbed the NOIDA plots. She also claimed that she was the victim of a conspiracy hatched by upper caste colleagues.

Sources said it was probably the first time that the CBI had drawn the state government's attention in a case of alleged corruption and suggested an inquiry into it. Normally, the CBI takes cognisance of a case only at a state government's behest.

A BJP member of Parliament, Raj Nath Singh, had filed a public interest litigation before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court, demanding an inquiry into the NOIDA scandal.

The 89 beneficiaries Singh named in his petition included one of the governor's daughters. Bhandari denied the allegation against his daughter and filed a case of criminal defamation against the BJP MP. That case will come up for hearing on Friday.

UNI