Published On : Tue, Sep 17th, 2013

Judicial Enquiry ordered to investigate entire Star Bus episode to find out guilty bosses

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The General Body Meeting of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), as was expected, turned into the “war zone” with battling parties being both Ruling Party and Opposition Corporators on one side and the other being the Star Bus Company. The enraged Corporators, cutting across the party lines, vociferously demanded registration of criminal offences against the “guilty” officials of Star Bus Company and others. The Mayor Anil Sole, after witnessing the outrageous mood of the Corporators, immediately ordered the NMC Administration to investigate the dusty state of affairs run by the Star Bus by a retired judge.

nmc.image_-1Nagpur News: The bombarded and battered Star Bus has found itself on the rough road and may hit a dead-end as a judicial enquiry has been ordered to investigate the roles of the company officials and other top guns in the entire dubious state of affairs including its “deals”, poor service and other irregularities.

The General Body Meeting of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), as was expected, turned the “war zone” with battling parties being both Ruling Party and Opposition Corporators on one side and the other being the Star Bus Company. The enraged Corporators, cutting across the party lines, vociferously demanded registration of criminal offences against the “guilty” officials of Star Bus Company and others. The Mayor Anil Sole, after witnessing the outrageous mood of the Corporators, immediately ordered the NMC Administration to investigate the dusty state of affairs run by the Star Bus by a retired judge. He said, strongest action will be taken against whosoever is found guilty. However, the Opposition Corporators gathered in front of the Mayor’s Seat and demanded direct registering of criminal offences against the “guilty” Star Bus Company officials instead of enquiry by the retired judge. They created uproarious scenes and shouted “Star Bus Murdabad.”

The Ruling Party and Opposition Corporators including BSP unitedly tore apart the Star Bus into bits and pieces and pushed the NMC Administration to the “Red” wall over the contentious issue of the poorly run Star Bus affairs. A proposal for Supplementary or an Alternative Agreement for amending the terms and conditions in the original Star Bus Agreement was supposed to be put up in the General Body Meeting. However, the then Judicial Adviser Adv Puranik and Consultant Rathi desisted themselves in advising the Administration.

The Opposition Leader Vikas Thakre roared and said, “The then Commissioner Aseem Gupta, instead of looking after the interest of the NMC, mutually negotiated an agreement with Vansh Nimay Company, which runs the Star Buses in Nagpur, and allowed the Company to reap benefits thus putting the NMC at loss. Therefore, an offence of cheating and fraud should be filed against the then Commissioner, Judicial Adviser, Consultant, Engineer, Director of Vansh Nimay, and a Government official,” Thakre said. The Ruling Party Leader Pravin Datke drew the attention of the House by saying that even the first agreement has not been presented in the House. How can the Consultant advise the NMC Administration not to put the proposal in the House? he posed and also demanded registration of the criminal offence against the “guilty”. The Ruling Party Leader even demanded cancellation of agreement with the Star Bus Company and contracting other operator to run the buses on Nagpur roads.

The Standing Committee Chairman Avinash Thakre, Sudhakar Kohale, Prafull Guddhe Patil, Arun Davre, and Suresh  Jagyasi, too, demanded registration of offence against the “guilty” officials.

12-MEMBER PARIVAHAN COMMITTEE SET UP:

A 12-Member Parivahan Committee was formed in the General Body Meeting to monitor the Star Bus affairs. The NMC Corporator found his name in the Committee on the basis of numerical strength. However, since the member was not present in the House, his name will be announced in the next Meeting. The Committee, on the first day of formation, jolted and snubbed the NMC Administration by refusing to appoint three expert officials on the Committee.

The Parivahan Committee has been set up in accordance with the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act (Sections 25 (1) (2). The Committee consists of 7 Ruling Party members, 3 Congress-led Progressive Front, one each of BSP, Shiv Sena or NCP.  The Ruling Party members in the Committee include Bandu alias Sudhir Raut, Prakash Totwani, Sanjay Bonde, Mahendra Raut, Bhushan Shingne, Shravan Khapekar, Gopichand Kumre. The Congress members include Prashant Dhawad, Arun Davre, Sandeep Sahare. BSP member is Murli Meshram. The name of NCP will be announced in the next meeting.

ADMINISTRATION SNUBBED:

The NMC Administration had proposed three expert officials on the Committee in the interest of citizens, safety and high quality bus service. The names of Traffic Police DCP, NMC’s Engineer in Traffic Department and an Officer from RTO were proposed by the Administration. However, the formed Committee did not find their names, and the rehabilitation exercise of Corporators was the point of focus.