DIRECTIVE TO ACB
Patil cracks whip on corrupt babus …………Prafulla Marpakwar I TNN
Mumbai: Deputy chief minister R R Patil on Wednesday asked the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) to seize the assets of three senior officials after they were unable to explain the source of their properties.
The controversial officials are: Chandrapur municipal council chief officer Latish Krishnarao Deshmukh (illegal assets worth Rs 72 lakh), Sangli PWD engineer Baba Shankar Patil (Rs 6 lakh) and Jalna zilla parishad engineer Sarjerao Shinde (Rs 24 lakh).
In view of specific complaints against these officials, Patil had asked the ACB to conduct a high-level probe against them. The ACB found these officials had garnered assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. Subsequently, the ACB had registered cases against them under the Prevention of Corruption Act and had simultaneously submitted a comprehensive report to Patil.
Patil not only granted permission to the ACB to initiate criminal proceedings against them, but also asked the ACB to seize their assets as per the provisions of law. A month ago, Patil had ordered seizure of properties of more than a dozen erring officials after it was confirmed that they had indulged in corrupt practices.
A senior ACB official said the bureau was now moving on the fast track since the home department was disposing the proposal in a time-bound period. “Once we submit the proposal for seizure of illegal assets or for launching criminal proceedings against erring officials, the movement is very fast. By and large, we get the permission very quickly,’’ the official said.
Meanwhile, Patil has also suspended Byculla jail superintendent R V Kamble for dereliction of duty. On July 10 when the sleuths of the crime branch raided the jail premises, they found weapons, mobile phones, chargers and several banned items. Then Kamble was transferred and eight jail officials were suspended for their failure to check the inmates.Patil had also asked the IG of prisons to probe Kamble’s role.
The IG submitted a report, saying that along with the eight jail officials, Kamble was also responsible for the mess.