Former CM Hooda questioned by CBI in Haryana land allotment scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation questioned former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for seven hours in connection to a probe into the allotment of 14 industrial plots in Haryana’s Panchkula in 2012 on Monday.

The allotments were allegedly approved by Hooda who was the chairman of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

“Mr Hooda arrived at 11 am today and the questioning continued till 6 pm,” CBI spokesperson RK Gaur told HT. When asked if the CM will be called for further questioning, Gaur said, “Further actions depend on what investigators learnt from today’s questioning of Hooda”.

The questioning comes almost a year after the CBI had registered a case for alleged irregularities in the allocation of industrial plots naming HUDA chairman, three senior bureaucrats, officials of the state government and HUDA and 13 beneficiaries of the plots who are suspected to have “links” to Hooda. The case was handed over to the CBI by the vigilance department of the Haryana government, which had accused the former chief minister and others of irregularities.

According to CBI officials, plots were allotted by making changes in the criteria after the last date of submission of applications had passed. While the last date was January 6, the criterion was subsequently changed and the applications of the beneficiaries were submitted on January 24. The industrial plots, ranging from 496 square metres to 1,280 square metres, were allegedly allotted at throwaway prices.

Besides the chairman of HUDA, others named in the FIR are retired IAS officer DPS Nagal, then chief administrator of HUDA, SC Kansal, then controller of finance and BB Taneja and former deputy superintendent of HUDA.

PLOTS WERE ALLOTTED BY MAKING CHANGES IN THE CRITERIA AFTER THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE OF APPLICATIONS HAD PASSED, ACCORDING TO CBI OFFICIALS