HC asks DGP vigilance, principal secy to furnish on pension to dead

Chandigarh: Taking up the matter related to release of social security pension to dead persons in Haryana, the Punjab and Haryana high court has asked the director general, state vigilance bureau, Haryana, to inform it about the involvement of those who had identified them (dead) for seeking such illegal disbursement. Directions have also been made to furnish details if the investigating officers deliberately did not take note of the evidence available on record.HC has also asked the principal secretary, department of social welfare, to file an affidavit giving reasons for delay in taking action on the report furnished by the CAG as well as the subsequent committees on the issue of illegal disbursements. “The affidavit shall also place on record the office noting files and giving details of the officials who delayed the file; the period during which it remained pending with them and all those officers who remained posted as directors or principal secretaries/ACS of the department. He is also required to furnish details of the action to be taken against departmental officers who were seemingly more interested in saving the violators and the illegal beneficiaries than performing their duties as per law,” the HC has ordered.The court has also made it clear that in case a comprehensive affidavit is not filed by the DG, vigilance bureau and by the principal secretary of the department upon a comprehensive examination of the issue in its entirety, this court would be inclined to refer the matter to the CBI for further investigation.The matter would now come up for hearing on May 25.Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj passed these orders while hearing a petition seeking investigation into alleged pension scam where various kinds of social security pensions in Haryana were disbursed to the ghost and ineligible beneficiaries.The matter is pending before the HC in the wake of a petition filed by Rakesh Bains of Kurukhetra. He has been seeking directions to register an FIR in the alleged scam in distribution of pension. The petition is regarding disbursement of old age Samman Allowance/Pension and other financial incentives to ineligible beneficiaries across the state and on account of connivance of the officials concerned. According to the petitioner, no FIR has been registered against those found receiving bogus old-age-pension in various districts of Haryana.In response to the plea, the state had told the HC that an inquiry regarding re-verification of beneficiaries had identified 13,477 ineligible beneficiaries across the state and their pension was stopped. However, the FIR has been registered with regard to pension disbursement confined to Shahabad and Kurukshetra only.
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