The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday filed a chargesheet against five officials of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and a private beneficiary in an illegal construction case.
The chargesheet was produced in a 2020 FIR registered under sections 5(1)(d) read with 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, Svt. 2006 and section 120-B RPC before the Court of Additional Special Judge Anti-Corruption Srinagar.
The officials chargesheeted include Choudary Mehraj-Din Bhuja and Showkat Hussain Hamdani, then Ward Officers; Nisar Ahmad Rah and Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, then Building Inspectors; and Mudasir Hussain Banday, then CEO SMC. The private beneficiary has been identified as Mohammad Abdullah Dar of Rajbagh.
According to the ACB, the case pertains to the illegal construction of a four-storey commercial shopping complex, “Abdullah Shopping Plaza,” at Kursoo Rajbagh, Srinagar. The building was allegedly constructed in violation of the building permission issued for a residential house, in connivance with SMC officials.
The investigation conducted by Police Station ACB Srinagar, based on oral and documentary evidence, substantiated the allegations of abuse of official position, criminal conspiracy and conferring undue benefit to the private beneficiary.
After obtaining sanction for prosecution from the government, the chargesheet was presented before the court for judicial determination.
According to the ACB, the next date of hearing in the case has been fixed for May 11.
