Adding more trouble for the city Congress government before the Assembly elections, Delhi Lokayukta Justice Manmohan Sarin (Retd) refused to close a case against Delhi minister Raj Kumar Chauhan for his alleged involvement in protecting a leading resort in a tax evasion case.
Justice Sarin has requested President Pranab Mukherjee to review the earlier decision in the case by his predecessor Pratibha Patil or issue direction to table his report in Delhi Assembly. The Lokayukta in February 2011 had recommended to the President to “withdraw her pleasure” for the minister to continue in office, holding him guilty of misconduct of “grave nature”.
In June 2011, Ms Patil had rejected Lokayukta’s recommendation to sack Mr Chauhan following which the anti-graft body had expressed disappointment over the decision saying such reverses are expected when moral values are sought to be enforced.
Mr Chauhan termed the allegations as “totally baseless” and referred to rejection of the recommendation by Ms Patil. “The highest office in the country rejected the recommendation. I do not have to say anything after that. The allegations are totally baseless,” he told reporters here.
Justice Sarin’s order had come in a case pertaining to Mr Chauhan’s alleged involvement in influencing a team of tax officials when they were carrying out a survey in the Tivoli Garden resort in south Delhi in February last year.