ACB books Sr. Town Planner, Commissioner MC Jammu for misusing official position

Srinagar: Anti Corruption Bureau Saturday claimed to have booked a Senior Town planner and Commissioner Municipal Corporation Jammu for ‘criminal misconduct, abuse and misuse of their official position as public servants’.
Officials said that Anti-Corruption Bureau registered a case against Farzana Naqashbandi, then Sr. Town Planner, Municipal Corporation Jammu and Kiran Wattal, then Commissioner, Municipal Corporation Jammu for criminal misconduct, abuse and misuse of their official position as public servants while issuing building permission in favour of Pardeep Kumar and Kuldeep Kumar sons of Shanti Prakash with dishonest intentions.
“A verification was conducted into the allegations that building permission was granted to Pardeep Kumar and Kuldeep Kumar for raising a residential as well as commercial structure at Gummat Chowk Jammu, illegally and against laid down procedure of Municipal Corporation Jammu,” the statement reads.
It added that the Senior Town Planner Farzana Naqashbandi recommended case of the applicant to the then Municipal Commissioner Jammu, Kiran Wattal who approved the building permission without referring it to BOCA or UTEIC ignoring objections raised by ACR Jammu and AC Nazool, deliberately and with malafide intentions.
“During verification proceedings, it also came to fore that land in question was basically state land and acquired by Rani Blori temple during the rule of Maharaja but the officers relied upon the notarised lease deed which contained cuttings and unclear land specifications/Khasra number and despite these inherent defects, the permission was granted in favour of the beneficiaries, illegally thereby conferring huge pecuniary advantage upon them as the permission in question facilitated them to raise a huge commercial structure at the prime location near Gummat Chowk, Jammu,” it reads.
The statement reads that as per the probe, it become evident that Senior Town Planner Farzana Naqashbahi and Kiran Wattal the then Commissioner Municipal Jammu by abuse and misuse of their official positions as public servants with dishonest intentions sanctioned building permission in favour of the beneficiaries which paved way for them to raise huge commercial complex in Jammu city.
“As the probe, prima facie, disclosed commission of criminal misconduct on the part of Farzana Naqashbandi and Kiran Wattal vis-a-vis the beneficiaries Pardeep Kumar and Kuldeep Kumar Sons of Shanti Parkash and constituted offences under section 5(1) (d) punishable U/s 5 (2) J&K P.C Act, Svt. 2006 r/w 120-B RPC, a formal case FIR No. 12/2019 has been registered at P/S ACB Jammu for investigation,” the statement reads.