Chandigarh, Sep 24 The ruling AAP in Punjab said on Thursday that the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) claim that party leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain held meetings with GMADA officials is “completely false, baseless and politically motivated”.
Neither Sisodia nor Jain has any role in the projects of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), its functioning or official matters, the party said in a statement. Their role in Punjab is purely political and they have no involvement whatsoever in the GMADA’s day-to-day functioning or projects, it added.
The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) assertion came after the ED claimed that its searches have revealed that Jain and Sisodia have regularly been holding unofficial meetings with GMADA officials regarding master plans and site auctions.
“Critical decisions, including fresh auctions and acquisitions by GMADA, as well as determination of compensation were all taken informally under the instructions of Jain,” the agency has claimed.
Files were taken by senior GMADA officials outside its office at the PUDA Bhawan informally for meetings with Jain and his Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Amarendra Jha at House No. 926, Sector 39, Chandigarh, regarding important policy decisions like auctions and master plan changes benefitting private individuals, the ED has claimed.
The ED launched search-and-survey operations on Tuesday at the GMADA offices in Mohali, the office of IAS officer Vikas Garg, who is the principal secretary in the Housing and Urban Development department, and a Delhi-based realty company as part of a money-laundering investigation.
On Wednesday, ED sleuths searched a house in Chandigarh where former Delhi minister Jain often resides. The senior AAP leader was not present when the federal agency reached the house in Sector 39, Mohali, and officials broke open the locks to gain entry, sources said.
The ED also searched the residence of Punjab minister Hardeep Singh Mundian’s nephew at Ludhiana’s Sahnewal.
The agency is looking into alleged irregularities in land acquisition, changes in land-use permissions, property auctions and financial concessions granted to private realtors, the sources said.
The ED’s search-and-survey operation concluded on Thursday afternoon.
The AAP also said there is no FIR or predicate offence against the GMADA, raising serious questions over the legality and purpose of the ED’s “illegal raid”.
“This was not an investigation into any offence committed by GMADA. This was daylight robbery of Punjab government records. The ED illegally entered GMADA, took away its documents and data, and kept the work of the authority disrupted for three days,” the ruling party alleged.
It said the state government would take the strongest possible legal action against those found responsible for any illegal conduct during the operation.
“The Punjab government will examine the entire matter in detail. Whoever is found responsible for illegally entering a Punjab government office, taking away its records or committing any other unlawful act will face the strongest possible legal action available under the law,” the AAP said.
The ED conducted the search-and-survey operation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at 26 premises across Delhi, Mohali, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Ludhiana in a case relating to Tirupati Infra Projects Private Limited.
The agency simultaneously conducted surveys at the offices of the GMADA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development of the Punjab government to gather evidence regarding the accused entities from the GMADA, which were later converted into searches to seize incriminating devices and material.
(PTI News)
