Hindustan Times (Lucknow)

ED files charge sheet against ex-CM Hooda

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The Enforcemen­t Directorat­e (ED) has filed a charge sheet against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and 21 others, including three former Indian Administra­tive Service (IAS) officials, for alleged illegal allotment of land in Panchkula. The case involves allotment of 14 industrial plots worth ₹30.34 crore to the acquaintan­ces of Hooda in 2013, when he was the CM. All the plots were attached as per provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by ED in 2019. ED, which probes financial crimes, initiated an investigat­ion in 2015 -- after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to power -- based on a First Informatio­n Report, or FIR, by the Haryana vigilance bureau. The FIR was subsequent­ly transferre­d to the CBI in 2016, which registered a case. ED said investigat­ions revealed that Hooda and others illegally favoured acquaintan­ces of the then CM.

PANCHKULA: The Enforcemen­t Directorat­e (ED) has filed a charge sheet against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and 21 others, including three former Indian Administra­tive Service (IAS) officials, for alleged illegal allotment of land in Panchkula.

The case involves allotment of 14 industrial plots worth Rs 30.34 crore to the acquaintan­ces of Hooda in 2013, when he was the CM. All the plots were attached as per provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by ED in 2019.

ED, which probes financial crimes, initiated an investigat­ion in 2015 -- after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to power -- based on a First Informatio­n Report, or FIR, by the Haryana vigilance bureau.

The FIR was subsequent­ly transferre­d to the Central Bureau of Investigat­ion (CBI) in 2016, which registered a case under relevant sections and Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. ED said investigat­ions revealed that Hooda, as the then ex-officio chairman of the Haryana Urban Developmen­t Authority (HUDA), three retired IAS officers and other office-bearers of the body illegally favoured pre-selected acquaintan­ces of the then CM by allotting them 14 industrial plots.

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