New Delhi
On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court granted Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar’s plea, which asked for an online news portal to take down a report that said Kumar’s son was connected to a family that had received preferential treatment when land was acquired by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the Dwarka Expressway project.
On November 13, Kumar sent a legal notice through Advocate Bani Dikshit to The Wire and the concerned reporter, claiming that the report was false, deceptive, slanderous, and without foundation.
In order to avoid unjust losses to the public coffers, he claimed to have independently investigated the matter and suggested that the case be forwarded to the CBI.
The court held that the award was issued in blatant violation of the principles of natural justice and contained patent illegalities. Following this, the Chief Secretary, Naresh Kumar, endorsed the DC’s views and directed an inquiry into the matter within a week by the Directorate of Vigilance.
According to an official, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had filed a complaint with the Vigilance Minister, requesting an investigation into the purported benefits of Rs 315 crore that Kumar had given his son in connection with the purchase of land for the Dwarka Expressway project. In a previous case involving compensation for land acquisition in Bamnoli Village, southwest Delhi, on the Dwarka Expressway, District Magistrate (DM) Hemant Kumar, who was suspended from office, issued an award of more than Rs 300 crore that the Delhi High Court later declared invalid.
The High Court’s ruling was predicated on the observation that the DM had made this award without providing the NHAI with a chance to contest the supplementary documents that the recipient, Subhash Chand Kathuria, had submitted, this was a fact acknowledged by Kathuria’s legal representative during the trial.
