JAMMU: Did Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor dubiously use public funds for a personal and private family function?
A letter from the Chairman of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Government of J&K, has raised serious allegations of misuse of public funds against the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, and his former Principal Secretary, Nitishwar Kumar.
The letter cites an expenditure of Rs 10,71,605 (Ten lakh, seventy-one thousand and six hundred five) for a lunch and dinner arrangement for 120 people at 7 Akbar Road, New Delhi, on February 16, 2021. This date reportedly coincided with the engagement ceremony of Manoj Sinha’s son, Abhinav Sinha.
The expenses were initially covered by the Office of the Resident Commission, New Delhi, but were allegedly for a private family function rather than an official event. The letter suggests that there is no record of any official meeting notice for 120 people at the residence on that date and that 7 Akbar Road cannot accommodate such a large group for an official meeting without tenting arrangements.
The expenditure is claimed to be against the provisions of General Financial Rules (GFRs) and instructions from the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. As a result, the Chairman has recommended that an FIR be lodged against Manoj Sinha and Nitishwar Kumar for alleged cheating and causing intentional loss to the government exchequer. Additionally, the letter suggests that the Accountant General of J&K deduct the amount from the salaries of both officials.
The Chairman’s letter also calls for an investigation to be conducted by the Crime Branch into other alleged misuse of state funds for personal purposes. Parmar had earlier highlighted several other scams involving the Lieutenant Governor, which are also reiterated in this new letter.
It mentions several other allegations against the Lieutenant Governor, including an insurance scam involving Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd., reportedly causing a loss of Rs 44.39 crores to the state exchequer. Another insurance scam involving Bajaj Allianz is alleged, reportedly resulting in a loss of over Rs 200 crores.
Furthermore, the letter alleges a procurement scam of pipes worth Rs 6,000 crores, including alleged inappropriate procurement of HDPE pipes worth Rs 600 crores for the Jal Jeevan Mission. These allegations suggest a pattern of financial irregularities that the Chairman deems worthy of investigation, the letter suggests.
The Chairman has sent copies of the letter to various high-ranking officials, including the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, requesting the removal of Manoj Sinha from his position in Jammu and Kashmir. The gravity of these allegations, if proven true, could have significant implications for the administration of the Union Territory.
It is important to note that these are allegations at this stage, and no official investigation or action has been confirmed as of the time of this report. The accused parties have not yet had an opportunity to respond to these claims publicly.
Parmar’s letter dated July 7, 2024, has gone viral on social media and many eyebrows have been raised by netizens and political leaders. https://kashmirtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Ashok-Parmar-letter.pdf
The J&K state unit of the Congress posted on Twitter, the subject line of the letter which states, “Cheating by Shri Manoj Kumar Sinha, Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor, UT of J&K and Shri Nitishwar Kumar, the then Principal Secretary, to Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of UT of J&K by paying Rs 1071605.00 illegally from state exchequer for organising lunch and dinner of 120 persons in private function to celebrate Engagement ceremony of his son Shri Abhinav Sinha organized at 7 Akbar Road, New Delhi.” It commented “Naya Jammu Kashmir.”
According to The Wire, former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah alleged that the Raj Bhawan has “continuously used the government funds” for the “comfort” of the lieutenant governor. “Whether with the vehicles bought for him, the private jets chartered for him, the crores spent for his ‘guests’, he (LG) treats J&K as his fiefdom which is apparent from the way the traffic is stopped for 25-30 minutes so his highness can travel without any holdup,” Omar is reported to have said.
It also quoted J&K’s former law secretary Ashraf Mir, who alleged that this was a “brazen violation” by the head of the Union territory and a “clear-cut case of misappropriation of public funds”.
“Whatever has happened is legally untenable, a brazen violation and a case of likely misappropriation of public funds,” Mir said, adding that the funds expended from the Consolidated Fund by the state head have to get legislative approval. Mir said that some funds are put at the disposal of state heads under hospitality and protocol which they can use to organise seminars, conferences and other events aimed at the promotion of state interests.
Earlier last year in August, Parmar, had alleged irregularities in procurement of pipes for the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Jammu and Kashmir. In a complaint to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Parmar had claimed that unsuitable pipes were shortlisted for the Rs 14,000 crore project, flouting norms. He also accused J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta of caste-based harassment against him in a separate complaint to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.
Parmar alleged that tenders for ductile iron pipes worth Rs 690 crore were floated without proper approval, suggesting a criminal conspiracy. He also claimed that high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes, unsuitable for the region, were procured for Rs 28.29 crore in violation of financial rules.
The J&K government denied these allegations, stating that Parmar was removed due to irregularities.
Subsequently, Parmar pointed out more irregularities in October 2023. He alleged in a letter to the CBI that the Jammu and Kashmir administration, led by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, amended a multi-crore insurance contract to favor Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company, against the advice of finance and law departments.
The contract for the PM-JAY insurance scheme was signed in December 2020. A day later, the son of Dr. Arun K. Mehta, who later became J&K’s Chief Secretary, was hired by Bajaj Allianz.
When the company sought to withdraw in September 2021, the State Health Agency modified the contract with a 15% addendum, which was later regularized by the Administrative Council despite objections. This allegedly caused losses of over Rs 500 crore to the state exchequer.
Parmar claims these changes were made without legal backing and sought a probe by IRDA and CBI. He also requested protection under the Whistleblowers Protection Act. The J&K administration denied these allegations, stating the policy was modified because Bajaj Allianz refused to renew the contract, and the arrangement was made to ensure continuity of service.
No inquiries have been initiated in either of the previous two complaints.
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