New Delhi: The MCD on Wednesday informed the Delhi
High Court that it has started a vigilance inquiry to probe
its officials involved in fraudulent withdrawal of salaries on
behalf of hundreds of non-existent employees.
Appearing for the civic body, senior advocate Sudhir
Nandrajog told the bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and
Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw that the in-house inquiry conducted
by the Additional Director Vigilance, who has come to the
department on deputation from Ministry of Defence, began in
October.
He also said the MCD was ready for any penal action
against the erring officer found guilty in the case.
The bench said the inquiry committee would report to the
MCD Central Vigilance Officer(CVO), who is an IPS officer,
about the progress of the investigation.
The court had earlier asked the civic body to name in its
report the officers who had `recruited` the ghost employees
and disbursed salaries to them.
Delhi government`s standing counsel Najmi Waziri told the
court that six FIRs have been registered against 1702 `ghost`
employees, in whose names salaries had been withdrawn, were
`untraceable`.
The government counsel had earlier told the court that
the MCD had caused a loss of about Rs 500 crore to the public
exchequer in the past five years by paying salaries to
hundreds of its employees who were not even appointed.
In May last year, the court had directed the police chief
to conduct an independent inquiry into the scam after the
proposed probe by the MCD was objected to as "improper."
The court order had come during the hearing of a PIL
filed by `Jagrook Welfare Society` seeking a probe into the
scam by CBI or an independent agency.
Following a November 2009 media report on the
non-existing MCD employees drawing salary from the civic body,
it was revealed that 22,853 gardeners and sweepers were
`ghost` employees on its payrolls and salary had been drawn on
their behalf.
PTI
