NEW DELHI: Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar filed a defamation case in the high court seeking directions for the removal of an allegedly defamatory article published by a news portal, The Wire, alleging complicity of his son Karan Chauhan in a case pertaining to enhanced valuation of land acquired by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a road project.
Earlier, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had asked vigilance minister Atishi to conduct an inquiry into a complaint following the report which alleged that the chief secretary’s son was employed by a relative of a man who was awarded enhanced compensation for his land acquired for a road project.
The compensation for the original 19-acre land at Bamnoli, acquired by the National Highways Authority of India, was raised from Rs 41 crore to Rs 353 crore in May this year by then-district magistrate (southwest) Hemant Kumar. Hemant Kumar was later suspended by the Ministry of Home Affairs in connection with the matter.
Before a bench of justice Manoj Kumar Ohri, Kumar, represented by senior advocates Maninder Singh and Rajshekhar Rao, the plea contended that the article had a cascading effect on social media and that the entire reporting was contrary to the record.
The case will be further heard on November 21, 2023. Earlier, Delhi vigilance minister Atishi had sent a report which was forwarded to the L-G, in which the same contentions were made.
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It was alleged in the report that an MoU was signed between ILBS and the company of chief secretary’s son on January 24, which provided “a huge scope for profiteering to the company by providing it with joint intellectual property rights for any intellectual property developed through the project and 50 per cent share of profits by both parties for any future commercialisation of work.”
‘AMOUNT RAISED FROM Rs 41 CRORE TO Rs 353 CRORE’
It is alleged that the compensation for a 19-acre land at Bamnoli, acquired by the National Highways Authority of India, was raised from Rs 41 crore to Rs 353 crore in May this year by then-district magistrate (southwest) Hemant Kumar. Hemant Kumar was later suspended by the Ministry of Home Affairs in connection with the matter. The deal allegedly led to undue benefits to one of the landowners, who is said to be linked to the business associate of the Chief Secretary’s son. Over the matter, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the Vigilence minister Atishi to conduct a probe and prepare a report. However, the report when forwarded was rejected by Lieutant Governor VK Saxena, saying the report by is “prejudiced” and “devoid of merit”. The AAP in return alleged that L-G was protecting its “favourite officers”.