JOIN USMaya suspends 16 officers
Mayawati has also directed for lodging of FIRs against them besides initiating departmental proceedings, official sources here said. UP Chief Secretary Atul Gupta is also under the scanner for his role in the allotment as he was then the Industrial Development Commissioner, sources added.
Allotment of plot
The allotment of plots in Noida for five-star hotels had taken place during the regime of Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2006. It was alleged that the plots were sold at a price much lower than the market price causing a loss of Rs 4,721.14 crore to the state exchequer.
The Noida Authority had allotted 14 plots for five-star hotels at the rate of Rs 7,400 per square metre which was much lower than the market rate which, at that time, was Rs 1.69 lakh per square metre.
The IAS officers who have been suspended included former Chairman of the Noida Authority Rakesh Bahadur, former CEO of the Authority Rajiv Saran and ACEO Ravindra Nayak. Devdutt, the then Divisional Commissioner of Meerut and now a retired IAS officer, will also face legal proceedings in connection with the scam, a senior official said.
The state tourism department issued an order in 2006 to promote investment in Noida after which plots were identified in Sector 96, 97 and 98 and advertisements for 25 plots were subsequently released. Later, two public interest litigations were filed in the Allahabad High Court challenging the allotments at rates that were less than the market rate and without floating tenders.
Mayawati in July 2007 ordered an inquiry and action against the guilty after which the Noida Authority had cancelled the allotment.