MP airstrip scam: Lokayukta asks CM for action against two IAS including former CS

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta Justice N K Gupta has urged Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to take action against former Chief Secretary S R Mohanty and former Principal Secretary of General Administration Department Deepti Gaur Mukherjee for allegedly misusing their official positions in connection with court proceedings related to the alleged Ujjain’s Datana-Matana airstrip maintenance scam.
The recommendation comes after a letter was sent to Governor Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel a month ago seeking action against senior IAS officer Anirudh Mukherjee in the same case.
Justice Gupta has requested action against the two officers for acknowledging a written submission made in court by senior IAS officer Kavindra Kiyawat for quashing an FIR registered against him by the Lokayukta police in connection with the alleged Ujjain airstrip maintenance scam. Sources claim that Justice Gupta found the submission by these IAS officers to be "adverse" and "unfavorable" to the state government.
The recommendation letter also highlights several other government officers accused of similar conduct. S R Mohanty's reply to the court was against the government's oath of maintaining a corruption-free state, and an order issued by Mohanty to the special police establishment in 2012 was deemed highly objectionable.
Anirudh Mukherjee, who is currently posted as Principal Secretary of the Public Assets Management Department, was named in the earlier letter seeking action from the governor. Kiyawat is named as ‘accused’ in the FIR registered by Lokayukta’s special police establishment (SPE).
“Giving an adverse remark not favourable to the government comes under the category of misuse of official position, therefore the Lokayukta has recommended strong action against the officer under Section 12 of the Lokayukta and Up-Lokayukta Act,” said a Lokayukta officer wishing anonymity.
In October 2020, the Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed a petition filed by senior IAS officer Kavindra Kiyawat for quashing an FIR registered against him by the Lokayukta police in connection with the alleged Ujjain airstrip maintenance ‘scam’. The court ordered the probe agency to complete the investigation at the earliest. Mukherjee, who was Principal Secretary then, had responded to the high court notice.
Kiyawat, a former Ujjain collector who retired as Divisional Commissioner in Bhopal, was one of five IAS officers booked by the anti-corruption agency in its FIR dated November 24, 2019. He maintains he is not connected with the issue in any manner.
In 2015, Indore residents Piyush Jain and Bharat Bamne filed a complaint with the Lokayukta alleging corruption by certain PWD officials, collectors, and directors of a private aviation company in relation to the maintenance, use, and development of the airstrip at Datana, Ujjain. A preliminary enquiry was conducted on July 22, 2015, based on these complaints, which resulted in the filing of an FIR.
The court has ordered the investigating agency to complete the investigation as soon as possible. The firm had signed a contract in 2006 for a period of seven years, which could be extended for three more years.
It is alleged that the firm did not pay its dues for six years until 2013, causing a loss to government revenue. Kiyawat served as Ujjain collector from July 7, 2014, to July 27, 2016. The Lokayukta police have filed a case under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and 120B IPC against five officers who served as district collectors between 2006 and 2019, three executive engineers, and eight directors of the company.