DINAKARAN LAND SCAM: Report in a week, says SoI team head

Published on Feb 16 in New Indian Express.

TIRUVALLUR: The three-member Survey of India (SoI) team appointed by the Centre to probe the land grabbing charges against Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran is all set to file its detailed report in a week’s time.

Briefing reporters after meeting Dinakaran’s wife Vinodhini and district officials including the Tiruvallur Collector V Palanikumar during an enquiry at remote Thiruvalangadu here on Monday, Major General Shiva Kumar, who heads the survey team, said, “We will go through all the records and various documents submitted by the district administration and villagers, and will relate it to the map. We will finalise the map in a week’s time and submit it to the secretary of Union Science and Technology Ministry.” “The views of the district administration and the local villagers would be taken into account before finalising the map,” he said.

Seeking to play down the accusation of bias in favour of Justice Dinakaran levelled by All India Kisan Sabha affiliated to CPM, Shiva Kumar said, “We are not supporting anybody. We have a brand value (Survey of India), we will live up to it.”
To a question on whether the map would contain the portion of fencing removed allegedly by Justice Dinakaran in the wake of allegations of encroachment, he said, “We don’t believe in Collector’s map or somebody’s map, we will make our own map. We have prepared our own map based on whatever exists on the ground at present. We will analyse them and intelligently put it in the map.”
Meanwhile, it is reliably learnt that Vellore District Revenue Officer Saravanavelraj submitted a report with the SoI team on Monday alleging that Justice Dinakaran had encroached about 1.75 acres of land distributed to two beneficiaries under the Tamil Nadu Government’s Wasteland Distribution to families of poor landless farmers scheme.