Delhi BJP today demanded removal of PWD Minister Raj Kumar Chouhan after the Lokayukta sought a review of a decision by the President rejecting its recommendation that he be sacked for misconduct of "grave nature".
Lokayukta Justice Manmohan Sarin in a communication yesterday had requested Mukherjee to review the earlier decision in the case by his predecessor Pratibha Patil or issue direction to table his report in Delhi Assembly. The Lokayukta sought action against Chouhan for allegedly protecting a leading resort in a tax evasion case. "The minister has no right to continue in the post and must quit immediately... If he does not go on his own, then he must be removed," senior Delhi BJP leader Vijender Gupta said.
The Lokayukta in February 2011 had recommended that the President "withdraw her pleasure" for the Minister to continue in office, holding him guilty of misconduct of "grave nature".
In June 2011, Patil had rejected the recommendation to sack Chouhan following which the anti-graft body had expressed disappointment over the decision saying such reverses were expected when moral values are sought to be enforced. Justice Sarin's order had come in a case pertaining to Chauhan's alleged involvement in influencing a team of tax officials when they were carrying out a survey in the Tivoli Garden resort in South Delhi in February last year.
The Lokayukta order had said that "the Minister made a telephone call to the Commissioner of Trade and Taxes in the evening of February 20, 2010, while a team of tax officials were conducting search and survey at the premises of Tivoli Garden Resort to unearth huge evasion of taxes and concealment of income."
Chauhan, in his defence, had said that as a public representative, he received a lot of calls from people requesting favours and he had only responded to one such call.
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