"The corrupt practices would not be tolerated at any cost and as part of this commitment the Mayor of Municipal Corporation, Mohali Kulwant Singh has been given show cause notice for his removal from his councillorship and 3 other officers have been suspended after taking strong note of the misdemeanors of these people regarding causing loss to the state exchequer. The case recommending suspension of the then Commissioner has been sent to the Government. Apart from this 2 other officials have been chargesheeted too."Disclosing this here today in a statement, the Local Government Minister, Punjab, Mr. Navjot Singh Sidhu said that it is an article of faith with him to have zero tolerance towards corruption and nobody would be permitted to misuse the hard earned money of the taxpayers. The minister further said that it had come to the notice of the department the Mayor of Municipal Corporation, Mohali Kulwant Singh in connivance with the then Commissioner Rajesh Dhiman and other officials indulged in blatant misuse of his position and caused a loss of grave nature to the state exchequer while making a purchase of the Tree Pruning Machine.
The machine was priced at Rs. 28 lakh in the country while for making its purchase from abroad the price was Rs. 80 lakh. But a resolution was passed for purchasing it at exorbitant price of Rs. 1.79 crore and orders were placed for its purchase. The minister further elaborated that the department got the probe conducted by the vigilance cell and the orders initiating action have been issued against the Mayor and officials found guilty in the report of the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO).Acting on the report of CVO, Mayor Kulwant Singh has been given show cause notice for his removal from his councillorship for misuse of power and causing financial loss to Municipal Corporation, Mohali. Similarly, the then Commissioner Rajesh Dhiman has been chargesheeted in accordance with the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment & Appeal) Rules 1970 Section 8 and case recommending his suspension has been sent to the concerned department. In the same vein, XEN Naresh Batta and DCFA Vinayak have been suspended according to the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment & Appeal) Rules 1970 Section 8. Apart from this, ACE Mohinderpal and Surinder Goyal have both been chargesheeted and recommendation has been made for chargesheeting Internal Local Fund Auditor of the Municipal Corporation, Mohali. The orders placed for purchasing the machine have been cancelled promptly and the recovery of amount paid in advance to the contractor has also been ordered.