Here babus are billionaires

A Tribune Exclusive by Chitleen K Sethi Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 26
Mirror mirror on the wall…who is the richest of them all? Forced to make their assets public under the Right To Information Act, the property returns filed by the 151 IAS officers serving in Punjab have revealed an eclectic mix of billionaires, millionaires and some with nothing at all.

Many have been “allotted” properties by the government agencies. Some managed these through discretionary quotas, making use of their official positions to the hilt.

Then there are some who have been so lucky that every time they applied for a property in the draw of lots they got it. Many of them own several properties in the periphery of Chandigarh.

The richest IAS officer in the state is SS Channi, Principal Secretary (Industries). The man, who owned just a 10-marla plot in Mohali in 1982-83, now has several acres of agricultural land, a 50 per cent share in a filling station in Bathinda, a transport company in Bathinda, a house in Sector 18, Chandigarh, a flat in Delhi, a plot in Gurgaon, another in Noida and a two-kanal plot in the IAS PCS House Building Society, Mohali.

“Most of the land and businesses were inherited by Channi. The flats and plots he has bought have been shown as purchased after selling other properties,” said advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, HC Arora, who had sought the information under the RTI Act.

Arora has now received the details of the property returns following orders of the Punjab State Information Commission.

Another smart investor has been Shivinder Singh Brar, Financial Commissioner (Excise and Taxation). Apart from ancestral property, he has two houses in Delhi, a commercial flat in Delhi, a house in the Punjab State IAS Cooperative Housing Society at Chandigarh, agricultural lands in village Kansal and Giddarbaha and also a godown in Giddarbaha.

The “allottees” include Varun Roozam, who was allotted a 500-sq yard industrial plot in Phase VI Mohali. He later sold off the property. Priyank Bharati was allotted 220 sq yards of commercial property by PSIDC in 1995. Dr Avinder Singh states in his return of 2004 that the chairman of the Chandigarh Housing Board allotted him a residential plot from a “discretionary” quota.

Sujata Das was allotted a residential plot in Sector 8, Panchkula, from the discretionary quota of the then CM. She was again allotted a residential flat in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, from another discretionary quota.

Surinderjit Sandhu was allotted a corner plot in discretionary quota by the then Director (Housing) in Jalandhar. P. Ram was allotted a 500-sq yard residential plot from the minister’s quota in Mohali.

IAS officers also seem to get property at very comfortable rates. Rakhi Gupta Bhandari purchased a 288-sq yard residential plot on Dhanola Road, Barnala, in 2008 for Rs 2.40 lakh. Sarup Singh Dhillon purchased agricultural land at Bassi Pathana at “collector’s rate” where he is growing vegetables in a green house. He purchased a house in Sector 34, Chandigarh, at a rate fixed by the estate officer in March 2005.

Interestingly, there are some officers who seem to have “nothing at all”. According to their current returns, Vijay Janjua, Sundram Krishna, Vivek Partap Singh, Rajat Aggarwal, Manisha Trighatia, Ajoy Sharma, Pradeep Agarwal and Manjeet Singh don’t own any immoveable property.
Here babus are billionaires