Panchkula: Panchkula mayor Sham Lal Bansal Tuesday strongly denied allegations linking him to an alleged Rs 200-crore road recarpeting scam, terming the charges “baseless, false and politically motivated”, and said he would welcome any inquiry into the matter.Addressing a press conference along with his counsel, Bansal said a complaint alleging irregularities in road carpeting works worth Rs 200 crore had been forwarded by the Ambala divisional commissioner to the Panchkula deputy commissioner and municipal corporation commissioner for investigation.Claiming the allegations were factually incorrect, Bansal said municipal corporation records do not reflect road carpeting or recarpeting works worth Rs 200 crore. “At best, expenditure on recarpeting would have been around Rs 10-11 crore. Therefore, alleging embezzlement of Rs 200 crore is completely misleading,” he said.The mayor also stated that he had exited the contracting business in 2012 and alleged that the complaint was aimed at tarnishing his image after he assumed office. “I have been living in Panchkula for 40 years and have contested four elections. There is not even a blot on my record,” he said.His counsel, Jasbir Singh Ahlawat, said a Rs 10-crore defamation notice had been served on the complainant and others for allegedly making false and defamatory allegations against the mayor.
