CBI chargesheets Hooda, Vora in Herald land case

› My decision to restore plot was within my powers as the chairman of HUDA. The AJL paid the entire amount but could not do construction on it. BHUPINDER HOODA, former Haryana CM

PANCHKULA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday filed a chargesheet against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, senior Congress leader Motilal Vora and Associated Journals Limited (AJL), publisher of the National Herald, a newspaper founded by Jawaharlal Nehru. The FIR was filed in a case relating to the restoration of an institutional plot in Panchkula to AJL at old prices.

Hooda was the chief minister and chairman of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) when the plot was restored to the AJL at old rates in 2005 and Vohra was then chairman of the AJL.

The chargesheet was filed in the court of special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh in Panchkula under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 13(I) (d), read with 13 (2), of the Preventions of Corruption Act.

‘ABUSE OF OFFICIAL POSITION BY HOODA’

In a statement, the CBI said the former CM, in cahoots with others, had allegedly abused his official position and dishonestly restored the institutional plot to the AJL at old rates, thereby, causing wrongful gain of ₹67.65 lakh to the AJL and loss to the state exchequer. The CBI said the New Delhi-based AJL was allotted plot C-17 in Sector-6, Panchkula, on August 24, 1982, for publication of a Hindi newspaper, Navjivan.

On October 30, 1992, the Panchkula estate officer resumed the plot as the AJL

failed to carry out the construction as per the terms and conditions of allotment.

The company then filed an appeal against the resumption order which was dismissed by the HUDA chief administrator on July 26, 1995. Thereafter, the company filed a revision petition before the financial commissioner, town and country planning but it was also dismissed on October 10, 1996.

The CBI said investigations have revealed that the resumption order of 1992 was passed by HUDA only after the AJL had been given ample opportunities for completion of construction at the site. It was alleged that the plot was instead mortgaged by the AJL to Syndicate Bank, New Delhi, and the loan availed against the plot was used for commercial purpose.

SECOND CHARGESHEET AGAINST EX-CM

On November 15, Haryana governor Satyadeo Narain Arya sanctioned the prosecution of Hooda in the case.

In October, the CBI sought the state government’s approval to prosecute the former chief minister. Under the amended Prevention of Corruption Act, the investigation agency now has to take the state government’s prior sanction to prosecute a former public servant.

The sanction to prosecute was only sought for Hooda by the CBI.

This is the second chargesheet that the CBI has filed against Hooda. The first one was filed earlier this year in the Manesar land case.

Hooda, in a recent statement, said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana had nothing to show by way of achievements since it came to power in 2014, except the political vendetta it has waged against him.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told TV channels the fact that the chargesheet had been filed ahead of polls indicated political vendetta. Moti Lal Vora did not respond to calls and text messages sent to him.

NO ROLE OF CIVIL SERVANTS

The CBI found that civil servants had no role in the allotment of the plot to AJL noting they had opposed the move in the file related to the case.

HT had in 2016 reported that the BJP government had wrongly named other officials in a first information report registered by the Vigilance Bureau. The three officials named in the FIR had written on the file that while land could be allotted to the publisher at the current rates, AJL’s request to restore the land it had been allotted previously had no merit. Even the law secretary agreed with this opinion.

The officials were overruled by Hooda, who passed a speaking order to restore it. The 3,500 square metre plot was first allotted to the AJL in 1982 but taken back by HUDA in 1992. It was resumed as no construction was started on the plot.