Assigned land cannot be directly transferred or sold or alienated by the assignees to any private person or organisation as it will hit the provisions of POT Act, former chief secretary Arni Raghotham Rao told the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) when he deposed before the agency in the Vanpic deal probe.
The retired bureaucrat was included as a witness in the chargesheet filed by the CBI in the Vanpic deal.
Rao also said that it is the responsibility of the minister of the respective department to take a decision as per government business rules.
The 1970 batch officer who retired as the chief secretary in April 2008 headed the state administration when the Vanpic project took shape. The CBI recorded his statement on February 9, 2012 as part of the probe into the Vanpic deal.
Asked about alienation of assigned lands, Rao said that assigned lands cannot be directly transferred or sold or alienated to any private person or organisation. As per GO Ms No 1307 of the revenue department issued on December 23, 1993, there is a provision for payment of ex-gratia to the assignees when land is required for a public purpose/project. Bus such ex-gratia payment shall be made only through government for resumption of land by the government from the assignee. “Every voluntary relinquishment by the assignees in favour of a private party on receiving ex-gratia is prohibited by the POT Act, 1977,” Rao said.
This assumes significance as industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad, who was awarded the Vanpic project, acquired assigned lands for the project directly from the assignees against the provisions of the Act. Further, the compensation too was paid by Nimmagadda’s firm.
Regarding general decision in a department, Rao said that as per business rules, the responsibility rests on the minister of the respective department, who has approved the file. “However, the secretary of the department concerned bears responsibility for the noting made by him while submitting the file to the minister,” the former CS said. The CBI arrested the then I&I minister Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao citing business rules of the government and held him responsible for the deviations in Vanpic deal.
On the file related to the MoU between RAK and state government, Rao said the then minister Mopidevi and then CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy and secretary (I&I) Manmohan Singh sought a decision whether to sign the MoU or not. The file was cleared and sent to the CM and the minister the same day.
