In the SC-ST scholarship scam orchestrated in the social welfare department, the High Court has issued show cause notices to the Dehradun and Haridwar senior superintendents of police, summoning them to the court on January 9.
Issuing the notices to the SSPs for not acting on the past order of the court, the division bench of chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan and justice Alok Kumar Verma asked why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them. The HC also directed the social welfare department secretary to submit reply in the court. The petitioner informed the court that the SSPs of Dehradun and Haridwar had not followed the court’s order dated December 16, 2019.
In this order, the court had directed the SSPs of these two districts to submit a progress report in the court, which has not been done yet. The petitioner also informed the court that the Government has not yet given permission for action against five social welfare officers accused in the scam. Considering this, the division bench directed the social welfare department secretary to present a progress report in this case in the court by February 10. The counsel representing the Government informed the court that government officials who had allegedly benefitted had been issued notices on December 3.
It is pertinent to mention here that so far, the police have lodged FIRs against a number of private educational institutions and individuals in the SC-ST scholarship scam.
