Harshad Bhojak, an assistant town planning officer of the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC), who was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of ₹20 lakh by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on August 1, has been found to be the mastermind behind illegal constructions in the walled-city area.

Bhojak has been a subject of multiple investigations and many complaints have been filed against him.

Bhojak was found to be involved in several corruption controversies in the past. Deputy Municipal Commissioner Arjav Shah stated that Bhojak was issued a show-cause notice in August 2023 for allegedly conspiring with the builder of Sana Apartments, a 10-storey building in Jamalpur ward.

Another show-cause notice was issued to him in January 2023 for irregularities found at a construction site in Nikol.

Following Bhojak’s arrest, Municipal Commissioner M Thennarasan has suspended him and revoked two of his increments.

Meanwhile, Ashish Patel, Bhojak’s accomplice, and a government-approved engineer, does not hold a valid licence to work as an architect or engineer in the AMC. He was involved in illegal construction activities colluding with Bhojak.

The Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations (GPMC) Act, 1949, states that any entity wishing to practise as an architect or engineer for the city’s administrative projects must obtain a formal licence by registering with the AMC.

Illicit deeds at structural level

The city’s former mayor and current Ellisbridge MLA, Amit Shah, along with former Khadia corporator Mayur Dave and Jamalpur-Khadia MLA Imran Khedawala, had requested information from the estate department regarding illegal constructions in the central zone.

However, the estate department failed to provide the information citing the unavailability of the papers, leading to penalties being imposed on Bhojak, along with ward inspectors of Dariapur and Khadia, Girish Patel and S J Kadalia, respectively.

Moreover, despite a 2020 request for CCTV footage of the estate department under the Right to Information Act, Bhojak repeatedly delayed providing the video recordings. As a result, he was slapped with a fine by the Gujarat Information Commission (GIC).

Bhojak was also responsible for approving repairs and restorations of heritage buildings in the walled city area. However, he is accused of allowing numerous heritage buildings to be converted into commercial complexes.

Notably, when AMC’s estate and town planning committee met on August 2, the chairperson, Pritish Mehta, was quizzed extensively regarding Bhojak’s bribery case. Mehta evaded responsibility by placing the blame squarely on the AMC officials, asking, “What did the officials do? What is their responsibility?”

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Red-handed: ACB nabs AMC official taking ₹20 lakh bribe