Court summons Hooda, 21 others

PROBE REVEALED THE PRICE FIXED FOR SUBJECT ALLOTMENT WAS KEPT FOUR TO FIVE TIMES BELOW THE CIRCLE RATE

PANCHKULA: The special PMLA court, Panchkula, has summoned former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Hooda and 21 others in the Panchkula land scam case. The next date of hearing is March 5.

Two days ago, the enforcement directorate (ED) had filed a chargesheet against the 22 persons, including Hooda and three retired IAS officers.

The case involves allotment of 14 industrial plots worth Rs 30.34 crore to Hooda’s acquaintances in 2013. The ED had initiated investigation in 2015 after an FIR was lodged by the Haryana vigilance bureau.

The FIR was subsequently transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2016, which registered a case under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (disappearance of evidence), 204 (destruction of record to prevent its production as evidence), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467 ( forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (to use a forged record or document as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The investigation revealed that the chargesheeted parties had illegally benefitted from the pre-selected acquaintances of the then CM as they were allotted 14 industrial plots in lieu of worthier applicants.

The three retired officers include Dharam Pal Singh Nagal (the then chief administrator, HUDA), Surjit Singh (the then administrator, HUDA), and Narinder Kumar Solanki (the then zonal administrator of HUDA’S Faridabad zone).

Others involved are Subhash Chandra Kansal (the then chief controller of finance, HUDA) and Bharat Bhushan Taneja (the then superintendent, HUDA).

The investigation revealed that the price fixed for subject allotment was kept four to five times below the circle rate and seven to eight times below the market rate. The agency added that the criteria for allotment was altered 18 days after the last date of application so as to favour the pre-selected applicants by increasing discretion at the hands of the interview committee. The ED said the interview process was “vitiated and compromised”. All 14 industrial plots were attached as per provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2019.