Noida officers: HC dismisses review plea of state

ALLAHABAD: In a setback to the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a review application challenging its order directing removal of two tainted IAS officers from key posts in Noida.

While Saran was removed from the post of Noida CEO in an administrative reshuffle last month, Noida chairman Bahadur was on Thursday kept in waiting.

A division bench of Justice LK Mohapatra and PKS Baghel also directed the CBI to submit its preliminary investigation report into corruption charges against Noida Chairman Rakesh Bahadur and former CEO Sanjeev Saran by March 31.

After the order passed on the review application, the relief given to the state government against contempt proceedings underway before another bench wherein it has been accused of non-compliance of the November 8, 2012 order on removing the two officers ended automatically. Now there is no option open with the state government except to comply with the November 8, 2012 order.

The court had on January 31 stayed the contempt proceedings besides reserving its judgment on the review application. It had also restrained Noida Chairman Rakesh Bahadur from exercising any financial powers and taking any policy decisions.

The state government had filed an application seeking review of an order passed by a division bench of the high court on November 8, 2012, by which the court had directed the state government to transfer the two IAS officers with immediate effect.

By the same order, the court had also directed for CBI probe into allotment of plots at Noida since 2001 and that the tow officers shall not be posted anywhere in western UP.

Dismissing the review application, the division bench modified the November 8, 2012, order to the extent that the CBI shall, as directed earlier, conduct the preliminary inquiry into the matter and report back to the court on or before March 31.

The bench further made it clear by issuing a direction that if the preliminary inquiry report is not submitted by the CBI within the given period, the state shall be free to post both the IAS officers, Rakesh Bahadur and Sanjeev Saran, anywhere it likes, including the districts in western UP.

The court dismissed the review application mainly on the ground that "it's scope is limited and it can't be heard as an appeal against an order".

It might be recalled that two contempt applications are pending for compliance of November 8, 2012 order, wherein the contempt court had summoned UP Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani and principal secretary (industrial development) and others on February 1, 2012, if they failed to obtain an order in their favour from the court hearing the review application. Since the bench was hearing the review application and the order on it was reserved by the bench, the court had kept in abeyance the order passed by the contempt court.

The two officers have been accused of financial wrongdoings during 2005-07 when they held the same posts during the Chief Ministership of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Cases were lodged against them in 2009 when the state was under the rule of BSP supremo Mayawati and the two bureaucrats also remained under suspension for a long time.

However, soon after the SP returned to power after the assembly elections last year and Akhilesh Yadav became the Chief Minister, the two officers were posted to the same respective posts which was challenged before the High Court in a PIL filed by a social organization, Madhav Samaj Nirman Samiti.