Chatly’s building sealed: BJP, Cong leaders get into scuffle at Ludhiana mayor’s office
Chatly, in his defence, said that the CLU norms came into existence in 2005 while his building was established in 2001. The BJP leader added that he was ready to pay the fee but the MC should prove first that CLU charges are applicable on his building. “Until the MC is able to prove that, they must unseal the building,” he added
The mayor’s office turned into a battlefield on Monday with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress leaders entering into a scuffle over the sealing of saffron party leader Kamal Chatly’s building on Ferozepur Road two days ago.
The district unit of BJP along with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) staged a protest at the mayor’s office alleging that the building was sealed at the behest of cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu as Chatly had, they alleged, spoken against Ashu over suspension of DSP Balwinder Sekhon on December 11.
₹37 lakh CLU charges pending: MC
MC officials, however, said that Chatly had failed to pay over ₹37 lakh as Change of Land Use (CLU) charges due to which the action was taken.
CHATLY REFUTES CLAIM
Chatly, in his defence, said that the CLU norms came into existence in 2005 while his building was established in 2001. The BJP leader added that he was ready to pay the fee but the MC should prove first that CLU charges are applicable on his building. “Until the MC is able to prove that, they must unseal the building,” he added.
HOW THE MATTER ESCALATED
On Monday as the BJP leaders were protesting outside the MC commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar’s office, Congress leaders including councillors Sunny Bhalla, Pankaj Kaka, Baljinder Bunty and others also reached the spot.
Sensing trouble, mayor Balkar Sandhu took the BJP leaders into his office for discussing the matter. As the BJP leaders were speaking to the mayor, the Congress leaders entered into the room and soon both party leaders got into a heated argument right in front of the mayor and MC commissioner. Congress councillor Sunny Bhalla and Chatly even pushed each other.
PROTEST CALLED OFF AFTER MAYOR’S ASSURANCE
The saffron party leaders called off the strike after the mayor assured them that Chatly’s building would be opened. He is also said to have told the protesters that the building was not sealed on Ashu’s orders rather it was part of the civic body’s routine to expedite recovery. He added many other buildings were also sealed on the same day and apart from that some other anomalies were found in the building.
Sources in the MC revealed that the mayor has also asked the staff to pull out all records related to the building to check whether the owner has paid all the taxes or not.
On December 11, BJP and Chatley had come out in support of suspended DSP Balwinder Singh Sekhon and had levelled serious allegations against cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu for using muscle power to dominate the probe in Ludhiana CLU scam case.
MORE TROUBLE FOR CHATLEY
Amid the protest, another resident Harminder Singh showed up alleging that the land on which the building was constructed belonged to his relatives and Chatley had encroached upon it. He further claimed that the matter is sub-judice in the court of additional district and sessions judge Kulbhushan Kumar.
BUILDING SEALED WITHOUT NOTICE: BJP
BJP district vice-president Anil Sareen and Kamal Chatly said the MC sealed the building without serving any notice and without calculating the defaulting amount. MC officials, however, said a notice was served through speed post around six months ago. SAD leader Maheshinder Grewal demanded that action should also be taken against alleged illegal community centre from where Ashu is running its office in Model gram area. BJP leader Sareen handed over a list of three alleged illegal buildings to the MC and sought action against these.
