Satyapal Singh, former Mumbai police commissioner and currently the BJP MP from Baghpat, had allegedly concealed information about unpaid dues to the city collector in his election affidavit, a right
Satyapal Singh, former Mumbai police commissioner and currently the BJP MP from Baghpat, had allegedly concealed information about unpaid dues to the city collector in his election affidavit, a right to information (RTI) query has revealed.
According to the information received by RTI activist Anil Galgali, Mr Singh reportedly did not disclose information about unpaid dues of a penalty of '48,420 imposed on him by the Mumbai Suburban District collectorate in January 2013.
“The penalty was for renting out his flat in Patliputra Society, Andheri, without taking proper permission from the collector as required under the laws. The collectorate had served a notice on January 28, 2013 to Mr Singh, who was the Mumbai Police Commissioner at that time, but he chose to ignore it and even the subsequent reminders,” said Mr Galgali.
According to him, the said building was constructed on government subsidised land meant for housing top government officials, mandating permission from the collector after paying the prescribed fees. But Mr Singh reportedly failed to mention outstanding ‘government dues’ in his election affidavit as required by EC rules.
The EC Rule 4 (3) says that the candidate should reveal ‘liabilities’ if any, particularly whether there are any old dues of any financial institution or government dues.
Mr Galgali has written to the EC, Lok Sabha speaker and Prime Minister’s Office demanding that Mr Singh be stripped of his Lok Sabha membership for violating and defying EC rules.
However, Mr Singh, while speaking to The Asian Age, refuted the RTI activists’ claims. “The allegations are absolutely baseless. I did not receive any notice or letter from the collector in this regard. The claims of not mentioning it in my election affidavit are also false. I had mentioned everything when I submitted my election affidavit and one can check it online to confirm it. I am going to file a defamation case against the person who have made these baseless claims,” he said.
Mr Singh had quit the post of Mumbai police commissioner and contested the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket. He won the Baghpat seat in UP by defeating Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh.
