Uttar Pradesh govt says will examine CBI request to question 2 former IAS

LUCKNOW: The state government on Tuesday said it will examine the CBI request to question two former IAS officers in the Rs 1,500 crore Gomti Riverfront scam.
The CBI had earlier approached the state government seeking permission to examine former chief secretary Alok Ranjan and former principal secretary, irrigation, Deepak Singhal for their alleged roles in the scam.
Sources said that as per the latest norms, prior permission must be obtained from the government for investigating even former public servants under 17(A) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Sources said CBI in its probe found that tenders for the project were floated in violation of norms and trips of various engineers who went abroad to study construction of a rubber dam could not be justified.
The names of the two former IAS officers surfaced during questioning of the arrested superintendent engineer of the project, sources in CBI said.
In November 2017, the CBI took over the case and filed an FIR against eight engineers of the irrigation department in connection with Gomti River Channelization Project and Gomti Riverfront Development Project. The project, initiated by the Akhilesh Yadav government, involved construction of a rubber dam to maintain the water level of the Gomti, a stadium, an amphitheater for 2,000 people, cycle and jogging tracks, a play area for children and a musical fountain.
The Enforcement Directorate had also filed a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in March 2018 in connection with corruption in the Gomti Riverfront Development Project.
Later, it also attached immovable properties worth Rs 1 crore belonging to the accused engineers.