Even as the applicants of the mega
DDA Housing
Scheme-2014 keenly await the draw of lots for the Delhi Development
Authority’s (DDA) biggest such scheme till date, a Delhi court has expressed
concern over how the entire system of allotment of flats is exploited by some
agency officials and the way “property dealers/ touts have access in DDA office
at their whims and fancies” to get the manipulation done.
“It is unfortunate that the entire system of allotment of flats has been
exploited and misused by some of the allottees and property dealers and the
entire allotment process requires a deeper scrutiny to ensure that benefit of
allotment reaches the genuine applicants,” said Special CBI Judge Anoop Kumar
Mendiratta.
ASJ Mendiratta expressed his concern while deciding a case of scam in a
1996 housing scheme of DDA for allotment of flats under the Self Financing
Scheme wherein possession letters of 12 DDA flats at Kondli Gharoli here had
been given to allottees on forged bank challans, without the actual payment
being made causing a loss of Rs.1,06,46,063 to the DDA.
Treating the case as tip of an ice-berg, the court directed that
“necessary administrative guidelines be issued by Vice-Chairman, DDA, to ensure
proper cross-checking and verification of challans submitted for payment of
cost of the flats at level of AAO/AO to avoid repetition of similar scam.”
“Vice-Chairman, DDA, is accordingly directed to take necessary action in
the matter and action taken report be placed before this court within three
months,” ASJ Mendiratta said in his 364-page order.
The court also directed the V-C to conduct a special audit for SFS
Scheme-1996 by an independent agency to rule out any more cases of fraud.
In the instant case, the court sentenced Gurdas, an Upper Division Clerk
(Dealing assistant-SFS, Housing accounts in DDA) and Raju Agarwal, a property
dealer, to four and five years’ imprisonment respectively. It, however,
acquitted V.P. Anand (Accounts officer, SFS-DDA), S.K. Kaushik (Assistant
Accounts Officer) and Gurnam Chand (Assistant SFS Housing, DDA) as the CBI
failed to prove their roles.
The V-C has, however, been directed to conduct departmental inquiry
against those acquitted for the negligence on their part.
The CBI’s case was that under the SFS scheme, the DDA had invited
applications from general public for allotment of flats from August 8 to August
20, 1996. At the initial stage the applicants were to deposit Rs.50,000 and
flats in Kondli Gharoli here were allotted by
DDA Draw of lots on December 31, 1996.
The CBI had further said that Gurnam was the custodian of files of SFS
flats. In 1997, Raju purchased allotment papers from the successful allottees
directly or through agents since the allottees were not in a position to make
the complete payment.
The accused fabricated bank challans showing the cost of flats have been
deposited. On the basis of forged documents, possession letters of 12 flats
were issued to him.
The fraud came to light when purchasers of some flats found that the
original allottees had not deposited the cost towards the flat. They asked the
property dealers to return their money and filed complaints against them.
The court was of the view that the manner in which some of the allottees
had applied for registration and allotment of flats in DDA (SFS Scheme-1996)
brings out serious irregularities adopted by applicants to seek allotment and
earn profits out of the allotments since the applications had been financed
through property dealers/financiers and the applicants neither had the capacity
to pay for the allotted flats nor intended to use the same for personal use.