Rajiv Gandhi Trust land released after declaration of public purpose acquisition

CHANDIGARH:The Haryana government on Thursday told the Punjab and Haryana high court that the land leased to Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Hospital Trust, run by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, in Ullahwas village of Gurgaon was released after the declaration of section 6 notification of Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Under Section 6 of the Act, the land acquisition agency declares that the land is required for public purpose.

A total of 118 acre of land was released after section 6 notification, including 40 kanal 3 marla panchayat land to the Rajiv Gandhi Trust for around 33 years in December 2010, 6 acre to Radha Soami Beas Trust in April 2011 and 1 acre to Shiksha Bharti Public school, among others, the government affidavit says. The affidavit came on a bunch of petitions seeking Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the acquisition.

It was alleged that major chunk of thelandwasreleasedtoprivate parties by then Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda as chief minister.