Indian Express 29.06.2010
Former Mohali MC head reinstated
Express News Service Tags : court, municipal council Posted: Tue Jun 29 2010, 04:59 hrs
Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday removed Kulwant Singh from the post of President, Municipal Council(MC), Mohali and reinstated Rajinder Singh Rana as the president of the Municipal Council.
Rana, who was earlier the president, was removed on allegations of misuse of power. Terming his removal as an outcome of political vendetta, Rana had moved to the High Court. Finding force in his contentions, Justice Alok Singh on Monday allowed the petition filed by Rana.
It was on June 11, 2007, when the Congress-backed MC chief was issued a show cause notice by then local government, Principal Secretary D S Bains on the alleged charge of misuse of power. It was on the basis of a report submitted by then MC Executive Officer J S Thind, accusing Rana of transferring three civic employees without having the powers to do so. Rana was also accused of repeatedly postponing opening of sanitation tenders, which Thind had alleged had adversely affected the MC’s work. Thind had recommended action against Rana as per relevant provisions in the Punjab Municipal Act.
In his reply, Rana had, however, categorically refuted the charges while claiming that he had the powers to transfer the civic employees from only one seat to another within the MC. He had also claimed that he had postponed the tenders only to bring about changes in the terms of the agreement to “introduce more competition” among the contractors.
