Show-cause notice issued to 3 officials of Improvement Trust

Negligence in 'plot allotment case' in consumer panel

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, July 24

Case of allotment of residential plot to Sham Singh under the locally displaced person quota by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) and the subsequent delay in registration of a sale deed in his favour, presently under adjudication with the Punjab State Consumer Disputed Redressal Commission, has taken a curious turn. The LIT authorities have issued show-cause notices to three employees for their alleged negligence in presenting the true facts and pursuing the case at the District Consumers Disputes Redressal Forum.

In the aforesaid petition filed by the aggrieved allottee, the Punjab State Consumers Disputes Redressal Commission had ordered personal presence of the LIT Chairman on the next date of hearing if the directions for registration of sale deed in the favour of the complainant were not carried out by that time.

Giving this information, LIT Chairman Raman Balasubramanium told The Tribune that through an official memo, show-cause notices had been issued to former executive officer (now retired) Gurinder Singh Sodhi, erstwhile Executive Officer Harinder Singh Chahal (now posted in Amritsar) and Harpreet Kaur, steno-typist in the LIT office here.

He said the officials/employees had been charged with concealment of facts while filing a counter affidavit in the District Consumers Disputed Redressal Forum at Ludhiana which led to an adverse order being passed by the forum against LIT.

“A perusal of the relevant file indicates that the then officials/employees had failed to mention the fact that earnest money deposited by the original applicant for allotment of plot - Dayal Singh (under LDP category), was refunded to Sham Singh on his request and a written undertaking was given by Sham Singh that he was not interested in allotment of a plot,” said the Chairman, adding that as a result, LIT was now embroiled in litigation while also suffering financial loss.