Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik has written to Chief Minister Adityanath over alleged corruption in his office and sought appropriate action, the Hindustan Times reported on Friday.
In the letter, Naik referred to an email he received from a Lucknow resident accusing Adityanath’s Principal Secretary SP Goyal of demanding a bribe of Rs 25 lakh to sanction land to enable a road to be widened. The complainant, Abhishek Gupta, alleged that Goyal sought the bribe to allot him Gram Sabha land in Hardoi district to widen a road so that he could set up a petrol pump. Adityanath has ordered an inquiry into the “factual position” in Gupta’s allegations against Goyal.
“Mr Abhishek Gupta, resident of 24, Prakash Lok, Indira Nagar, Lucknow has informed me, through a letter dated April 18, 2018 on email, that he proposed to set up petrol pump sanctioned by Essar Oil Limited in Resso village of Sandila tehsil, Hardoi,” Naik wrote in his letter dated April 30. “As the main road to connect the petrol pump is narrow, a representation given to provide necessary land is pending at the level of principal secretary to chief minister.”
Naik confirmed to the Hindustan Times that he had written the letter. “Whatever complaints I get, I forward them to the respective minister,” he said. “I have been following this practice about all types of complaints. As this case pertained to the chief minister, I forwarded the complaint to him.”
However, the Lucknow Police arrested the complainant, ahead of his press conference at the city’s Press Club on Friday. Lucknow Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar said Gupta was arrested for “defaming the state government and levelling false allegations against the principal secretary”. The police filed a first information report charging Gupta with “cheating”.
Though there was no response from a government spokesperson, Goyal claimed that he received the file regarding the road widening only after the governor took note of the complaint.
“This is ridiculous,” said Goyal. “I received the file only after the governor’s letter was received. I recused myself, did not deal with the case and informed the chief minister about the same. I am not aware of any decision taken on the issue.”
The letter comes at a time when Adityanath is reportedly cracking down on corruption in the state. On Thursday, Adityanath suspended the district magistrates of Fatehpur and Gonda for alleged irregularities in wheat purchase and distribution of food grains, PTI reported.
The food commissioner on Wednesday ordered that First Information Reports be filed against a number of officials of the department in Fatehpur for not distributing token to farmers for purchase of wheat. In Gonda, district supply officer Rajiv Kumar and district food marketing officer Ajay Vikram Singh have also been suspended.
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