TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The much delayed Agrawal inquiry report on the Corporation of the City of Panaji market ‘scam’ has clearly established that the original allottees of the shops are not presently the actual occupiers.
The initial deadline to submit the report was March 31. The 16-page plus annexure inquiry report conducted by South Goa Collector N D Agrawal, which Herald accessed, was submitted to the Corporation Friday afternoon by the additional director (urban development) Satish Dessai, asking for comments.
Surprisingly, the report that points to lacunae on the part of the then ATO for giving permissions without the clearance of the standing committee has also pointed out that there were some signatures of the chief officers that were just photocopies, and that the original files from date of original possession given through the GSIDC are not found or not been maintained with the CCP.
A total of 778 people were issued notices and 609 replied as well as submitted copies of the documents in their possession.
The government had appointed the South Goa District Collector, N D Agrawal to investigate the allegations of illegalities in allotment of municipal market shops with an initial deadline of March 31, which was extended till the end of April 2013, and then to June 15.
Agrawal had issued notices to 780 shopkeepers and vendors asking them to furnish details from whom they got possession of shops and vacant spaces occupied by them and were also asked to submit all related documents by April 2, 2013.
Mayor Surendra Furtado had recently threatened that he would hand over the inquiry to a retired High Court judge if the report was not submitted till June 15. He had also accused the government of delaying the inquiry report for “reasons known to them,” and that he would hand over the report to the Lokayukta.
