Tainted DTC man removed

NEW DELHI: Delhi government took punitive action against a tainted official in Delhi Transport Corporation at the intervention of chief secretary Shailaja Chandra on Friday.
The tainted official, R N Katyal, was removed late on Friday evening and shunted to Central Workshop-I in Banda Bahadur Marg depot in north Delhi. He was posted as the Vigilance officer of DTC even after he was accused of damaging crucial evidence in a corruption case.
The vigilance inquiry pending about his unscrupulous activities have been found to be correct and a severe action is to be taken by the DTC, well-placed sources in Delhi government said on Saturday.
"Katyal''s case was taken up by the chief secretary and she called the DTC chairman and chief vigilance officer (CVO). She reprimanded both officers for not taking prompt action against an official facing a vigilance inquiry," a senior government functionary said.
Chandra was peeved at the fact that, while no action had been taken against the tainted official, he had been posted in the vigilance department itself. "She demanded an explanation from the two officers on how could they allow such a posting to take place," the government source said.
The Times of India had been the first to report the case almost a month ago. But, since then, the DTC officials had not initiated any action. "It was only after the Central Vigilance Commission asked the state government to explain this anomaly, the chief secretary is believed to have taken cognizance of the matter," the source said.
Katyal had allegedly removed some important documents of a case in August 2000, where a depot manager in north Delhi''s Banda Bahadur Marg was caught receiving money through one of his conduits.
The ''missing'' documents led to the depot manager''s exoneration. Former chief vigilance officer N S Rana had also commented adversely on Katyal''s involvement.
When Katyal was appointed, DTC chairman A J S Sawhney had reportedly claimed that CVO A S Khan had recommended his case.
Sources said Katyal belonged to the technical cadre in DTC, but was posted in the vigilance wing.
"There was no need for a technical cadre official to be posted as there are two officials- one each from the technical and vigilance wings- to help out the vigilance officer. Katyal should now be replaced by a vigilance cadre official," a senior government official said.
At present, Jai Lal Kapoor (manager, traffic) and A K Kaushik (manager, mechanical) are posted to help the chief vigilance officer and the vigilance officer in investigating the cases against erring DTC personnel.
A group of traffic inspectors and foreman also assist the vigilance officers.