Allotment of govt land: Odisha HC asks govt to submit copy of task force report

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Cuttack, Dec 13:

The Odisha High Court on Friday asked the state government to submit a copy of the report of the task force on the allotment of government land in a closed envelope.

Besides, the court also asked the government to submit the action taken report (ATR) on the report of the task force.

The directive of the court came in response to a PIL filed by Ramesh Chandra Sahu of Cuttack. The petitioner had urged the court to ask the state government to order a CBI probe into the allotment of government land in violation of all rules and norms.

It may be mentioned that there was widespread resentment in the state against the illegal allotment of government land and flats to some influential persons following the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

Later, the Odisha government had formed a three-member task force led by senior IAS officer and additional chief secretary, Revenue, Taradatt and two other members—secretary, Rural Development and special secretary, General Administration— on August 2 this year to probe all government allotment of land from 1995 onwards.

In its terms of reference (ToR), announced by the government on August 12, the task force was asked to probe the allotment of land and flats made between 1995 and July 31, 2014 submit a report within four months.

The task force had submitted its report to the government on October 31. However, the government has not made the report public yet.