Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has again summoned former Punjab chief secretary Anurag Verma and IAS officer Kanwalpreet Brar in connection with its ongoing investigation into the alleged Suncity City and Eltus Space Builders Private Limited scam.
Verma has been asked to appear at the ED’s zonal office in Jalandhar on August 31, while Brar has been summoned for August 27.
Brar had previously appeared before the agency on August 18. He has now been asked to bring additional documents related to the case.
Verma to appear before ED for first time
Anurag Verma is scheduled to appear before the ED for the first time. He is currently serving as Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue).
At the time of the alleged irregularities, Verma was heading the Housing and Urban Development Department. The ED is examining the role of the two IAS officers, particularly alleged irregularities in change of land use (CLU) approvals and illegal layouts that may have benefited private developers.
According to the allegations being examined, after changes were made to an allegedly illegal layout, group-housing sites in the mega project Muirwoods Ecocity were transferred to Dheer Constructions, a company linked to Gaurav Dheer, despite an earlier application seeking transfer of the sites to the Greater Mohali Area reportedly being rejected.
Action under Punjab planning law under scrutiny
The investigation is also examining alleged irregularities in the Suncity City matter. It has been alleged that instead of taking the required action under Section 90 of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, authorities proceeded only under Section 85, allegedly benefiting the builder.
The reported policy change dates back to 2022, when AAP Punjab president Aman Arora was serving as the Housing and Urban Development Minister.
The allegations are part of the ongoing investigation; the ED’s summons do not by themselves establish wrongdoing by the officials or other persons named in the matter.
