Jakhar questions manner of leasing out of Heritage Street sites, asks why multi-crore property was let out for measly amount

Chandigarh, June 12, 2017: Alleging favouritism, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar on Monday said the Heritage Street ads contract was awarded to a Jaipur-based agency in violation of all norms at a abysmally low amount of less than Rs. 42000 a month in what clearly appeared to be a case of financial misdemeanour aimed at filling the pockets of a few individuals.

Questioning the manner in which the sites were leased out by the erstwhile Akali government through a hastily floated tender, Jakhar said the entire deal was evidently crafted to promote the vested financial interests of a few, indicating a mega scam involving some high officials in the Badal government.

“Why else would a multi-crore property be leased out for such a shockingly low price of Rs. 5 lakh a year?” asked the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief, demanding an explanation from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), under whose tenure the deal was finalised. Considering the huge footfall of pilgrims that throng Sri Harmandir Sahib every day, the property should ideally have fetched crores of rupees for the state exchequer but was allowed to be leased out for peanuts, he pointed out.

According to information available with him, Jakhar said only two agencies, both coincidentally Jaipur-based, had applied in response to the tender floated for the giant screens, with a miniscule difference in the quotes, which clearly suggested underhand dealings.

It was hard to believe, said Jakhar, that such a premium tender did not evoke any interest from more agencies, unless they were deliberately kept out of the process in a sly manner, including provision of a very small time window for filing of applications. It is noteworthy that the entire process was completed at an exceptional speed, which itself indicates lack of transparency, he added.

“If the original tender genuinely failed to evoke a suitable response, why was the tender not refloated, instead of allowing such prime sites to go for such a paltry sum?” Jakhar further asked, adding that the entire deal smacked of financial transgression, which would surely be exposed in the inquiry ordered by the Chief Minister into the controversial telecast of liquor ads on the LED screens on Heritage Street leading up to the Golden Temple.

The Punjab Congress chief requested the Chief Minister to ensure that the inquiry is made broad-based enough to go into the entire affair goes into every aspect of the deal in minute detail, including the process undertaken by the authorities to lease out the sites. The inquiry should ascertain if the process followed the legal provisions that lay down the essential parameters for undertaking such high-profile contracts, he added.

Jakhar also demanded to know from the erstwhile Akali government what checks and balances were put in place to control the content to be telecast on the screens. “Was any framework put in place to check and control the content, especially in view of the sensitivity of the site location?” he asked, while urging Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to direct strong administrative measures to weed out any negative content in the future, and thereby ensure that the religious sentiments of the Sikh community are not hurt by any obnoxious advertising content.

The PPCC chief reiterated his demand that the lease for the Heritage Street LED screens be cancelled if the contract is found to be, in any way, violative of any legal provisions under the Indian law or Constitution.