Top Mhada official gives up charge……Yogesh Naik
MUMBAI: IPS officer and Maharashtra Housing And Area Development Authority’s vigilance chief Jawahar Singh, who is embroiled in a controversy after his reader Deepak Shinde was caught accepting a Rs 2 lakh bribe, has given up the charge in the housing body.
Singh,who was transferred to Aurangabad, had got a stay from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against the order. “When he learnt about Shinde’s arrest, he submitted a letter to the Mhada secretary claiming that he had given up the charge before the ACB laid the trap for Shinde,” said a senior Mhada official.
Singh was transferred on July 28 as inspector general (jails) in a routine round of transfers. He had completed his term in Mhada, but refused to vacate the post.
“Singh told us about the stay order on his transfer on August 5. Records show that he attended office on August 6 and 7. Shinde was trapped by the ACB on August 7. Soon after the arrest, Singh told Mhada’s legal adviser C Vachasundar that he wanted to give up the charge with a back-dated letter. Vachasundar advised against it. Now, we have come across a letter by Singh dated August 7 (received on August 9) to the Mhada secretary stating that he had given up the charge on August 6. The entire matter is fishy,” the official said.