Ruckus in Haryana assembly
CHANDIGARH: The Supreme Court judgment in the Manesar land deal led to pandemonium in the Haryana assembly on Tuesday with the ruling BJP MLAS creating an uproar demanding the arrest of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda over his alleged role in illegal land acquisition.
Finance minister Capt Abhimanyu said it was an important matter and should be discussed in the House. “The farmers of the state have been defrauded by the former chief minister. Look at the irony that Congress has appointed him as the chairperson of a committee on agriculture,” he said.
Leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala, however, changed the course of discussion and said chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar should get an FIR registered regarding the audio clip purportedly featuring BJP members talking about paying a political appointee.
On this, Khattar said an inquiry should be carried out before arriving at any conclusion in such cases.
When Khattar mentioned Hooda while quoting instances of inquiries conducted before filing of cases, Congress MLA Dr Raghuvir Singh Kadian objected by saying that anyone, who was not present in the House to defend himself, cannot be spoken about. “The Congress government plundered the state for 10 years and then BJP wasted another four years doing nothing against it. Instead of flashing newspapers, BJP MLAS should apologise,” Chautala said. The investigating agency, which has already filed a charge sheet against Hooda and three retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, will have to conduct a fresh inquiry into the role of middlemen. This means initiating a fresh preliminary enquiry into the matter. The apex court has clearly said that according to records, various entities including several intermediaries walked away with huge profits from the notification of acquisition, followed by the decision to cancel it. Substantial sums have exchanged hands in form of settlement money. The SC said the fact that settlement money at the rate of ~3.50 crore per acre was made to entities that had apparently done nothing in the matter is quite shocking. Neither had these entities procured the lands from the original landholders nor were they the ultimate developers. Such entities can be deemed to be intermediaries that walked away with a windfall to the tune of
~3.50 crore per acre. Builders/private entities will not be entitled to recover the money paid by them to landholders. The sale consideration paid by the builders/private entities to landholders shall be treated as compensation under the award and the landholders will not be required to refund any money to them. The apex court has asked the state to revisit its policy of change of land use (CLU) and grant of colonisation licence in respect of land that is a subject of acquisition. The third parties from whom money has been collected by the builders will either be entitled to a refund of the money or will be allotted the plots or apartments at the agreed price or prevalent price, whichever is higher. Every such claim shall be verified by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) or HSIDC. In cases where an entire project is complete or is nearing completion, the plots or apartments shall be handed over to claimants on the terms and conditions that have been agreed to.