Lucknow, May 21 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government Monday gave additional charges of the Greater Noida Development Authority and the Yamuna Expressway Authority to senior Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer Rakesh Bahadur.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav appointed Bahadur as Noida Authority chairman May 4. The post was lying vacant for 49 days. Bahadur had held the same post in the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) government.
The senior bureaucrat was considered very close to both SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and the then general secretary of the party Amar Singh.
After taking over as Uttar Pradesh chief minister in 2007, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati had suspended Bahadur on Aug 10, 2009, and ordered registration of criminal cases against him for his alleged involvement in certain land allotments, specially for construction of five-star hotels in Noida.
Earlier, the BSP government on Aug 3, 2007, had cancelled the allotments of 14 plots in Noida, made in 2006 when Bahadur was heading the authority. The government alleged that irregularities caused a loss of Rs.4,721 crore to the state exchequer.
The cancellation order was, however, challenged in the Allahabad High Court, which quashed it and asked the government to give the allottees personal hearing and then pass an order. But The government again cancelled the allotments after hearings.
On Aug 12, 2010, cases were lodged against 15 officials, including Bahadur, and charge sheets were served on them while the case was pending with the court. Earlier, on May 11, 2010, the Enforcement Directorate had registered a case of money-laundering and issued notice to the bureaucrat.
The allottees July 5, 2011, moved the Supreme Court, which ruled that no nepotism, corruption or favouritism took place in the allotment process.
With the Samajwadi Party back in power, the return of Bahadur was considered certain to happen. But giving him the charge of three major authorities in the National Capital Region (NCR) has stumped officials, as they say this is "concentrating unbridled power in one man's hands."