New Delhi: The Madhya Pradesh government
has constituted an inquiry by a retired bureaucrat to look
into allegations against IAS couple Arvind and Tinu Joshi of
having amassed disproportionate assets to the tune of a
whopping Rs 360 crore.
"We have constituted an inquiry to be conducted by a
retired IAS officer of the state Nirmala Buch. I have asked
her to submit an early report so that we can initiate
necessary action," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan said.
Buch was also the Chief Secretary of the state.
Chouhan said he has decided to take "exemplary" steps
in cases related to corruption by bureaucrats and others in
the state.
He said the inquiry will study the voluminous
documents and appraisal reports before the state and
recommends necessary action to the administrative authority --
the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
Meanwhile, the Income Tax department has sent the
investigations report of the Rs 360-crore assets of the couple
to it's central taxation unit which will decide the tax
liability and raise tax demands.
The Special Police Establishment (SPE) of Lokayukta in
the state is also studying the appraisal report submitted by
the I-T department on the searches that it conducted on the
couple last year.
I-T searches were conducted on February 4 last year at
the residence of the Joshis and Rs three crore in cash were
recovered following which they were suspended. A week after
that, the Lokayukta had initiated investigations against the
Madhya Pradesh officer-couple.
After nine months of probe, the SPE registered an FIR
against the duo on December 9, 2010 and raided their house a
day later, which led to the recovery of a sum of Rs seven lakh
and gold ornaments weighing 146 grams.
The Enforcement Directorate had also served notices to
the couple for alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange
Management Act (FEMA) following the submission of the report
to Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Avni Vaish and Lokayukta P V
Naolekar.
Both Arvind and Tinu, who are 1979-batch IAS officers
of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, have held important positions at
the Centre since the late 80s.Tinu served as Deputy Secretary
in the PMO from July 1, 1988 to January 1, 1990 while Arvind
was Joint Secretary in the Defence Ministry during the 1999
Kargil conflict.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, February 02, 2011, 16:27