Court orders FIR against contractors, govt officials for embezzling funds for road construction

Gurugram: A district court in Gurugram has directed authorities to register an FIR against the contractors and municipal officials of Hailey Mandi Pataudi for alleged fraud and embezzlement of funds in the construction of a road there.

In a petition filed by Ramesh Kumar, the service road that was to be constructed at a ward in Hailey Mandi from public funds was not built and instead the funds were paid to the contractor. The public officials and contractors who will be booked for the alleged fraud are Hemanth Kumar (Municipal Engineer), Sushil Kumar (Municipal Secretary), Suresh Kumar (Chairman Municipal Committee), Jai Durga traders and Rajan construction company. The budget allocated for the construction of the road was Rs 30 lakh.

The court also ordered Gurugram Police to register an FIR against Ravinder Kumar, Hailey Mandi police station's erstwhile SHO for failing to register a case on Ramesh Kumar's complaint. The incident occurred in September, 2019.

The Police official will be charged under the Section 166-A (punishment for not recording) the information and also face investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act. After an FIR was not registered at the Hailey Mandi Police station, Ramesh Kumar approached the court and sought action against the culprits. The local courts asked the District Magistrate's office to look into the matter and provide a report on it. After the District Magistrate validated the claims, the court ordered the FIR.