ACB registers case in HMV license matter of RTO Jammu

Anti-Corruption Bureau, Jammu registered case against then Jr. Assistant I/c Licence Section, RTO Jammu, the beneficiary and others for fabricating and manipulating the digital records, illegally and issuing Heavy Vehicle licenses for pecuniary gains by sheer abuse of their official positions. On the basis of a source report, Anti-Corruption Bureau J&K conducted a Joint Surprise Check in Regional Transport Office (RTO) Jammu to look into the allegations that officers/officials of Regional Transport Office, Jammu, including RTO, in league with brokers/touts, issue Heavy Motor Vehicle (HMV) driving Licenses to ineligible candidates against huge monetary considerations ranging from Rs. 40,000/- to Rs. 50,000/- per license. It was also alleged that the concerned officials edit and manipulate digital date pertaining to the aspirants in such a way that it reflects their earlier LMV licenses as HMV licenses in the database and subsequently the touts apply on their behalf for issuance of duplicate license on varied reasons, like loss or obliteration, and in this way editing already made in the system paves way for issuance of the upgraded version of the license without requiring the aspirants to go through the prescribed procedure for entitlement to such upgraded licenses. The source report referred a particular case regarding issuance of one such license in favour of one Ashok Kumar. During Joint Surprise Check, it was found that the endorsement for HGV TRANS license shown to have been made on 10.07.2012 in respect of D/L of one Ashok Kumar Sawhney was not genuine. It emerged during probe that the said Ashok Kumar had applied for the post of Driver in Relief and Rehabilitation Organization (Kashmir Division) in pursuance to the SSRB Advertisement for which Hill driving license was a pre-requisite. Though said Ashok Kumar was not having such license at the time of advertisement, he subsequently got his LMV license endorsed to TRANS on 16.07.2013. It was revealed that the SSRB, after completion of required formalities, forwarded selection list of three drivers to the Commissioner/Secretary to Govt. Revenue Deptt., Civil Secretariat Srinagar which included the name of Ashok Kumar Sawhney too. However, the recommendations were kept withheld subject to clarification with regard to date of endorsement for TRANS (TR) and its validity. The suspect in the meanwhile, managed to get his date of endorsement fraudulently edited so as to show it as 10.07.2017 instead of 16.07.2013 as it came to fore that he had earlier worked as an agent in the RTO, Jammu and besides being familiar with the working of the said office, he was also known to its officers/officials. In 2017, he approached I/C License Section namely Rajesh Jamwal (Jr. Asstt.) who, by abusing his official position dishonestly and fraudulently edited the date of endorsement on his TRANS license for ensuring his selection as driver thereby buttressing the allegations regarding fraudulent editing. It also surfaced during probe that same modus operandi is being adopted in a routine process by the employees or Regional Transport Office, Jammu and there is every reason to believe that more such instances may surface during investigation. It surfaced that as Rajesh Jamwal, the then Junior Assistant of Regional Transport Office, Jammu under a well knit conspiracy with the beneficiary and others abused his official position and conferred undue pecuniary benefit upon the beneficiary Ashok Kumar Sawhney and as the aforementioned commission and omissions on his part, the beneficiary and others constituted offences punishable U/s 5 (1) (d) r/w Section 5 (2) of J&K PC Act Svt. 2006 and Sections 120-B, 467,468, 471 RPC, accordingly, a formal FIR No. 17/2019 has beenregistered in P/S ACB Jammu and investigation has been entrusted to Inspr. Vikram Sharma which is going on.

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