No misuse of power by former CM in leasing out land: Gurugram court

CHANDIGARH : A Gurugram court on Monday said the very fact that present chairman of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has not terminated or preferred dispute resolution regarding the leasing out of land for Appu Ghar amusement park in Gurugram is a sufficient proof that there was no misuse of the powers by his predecessor.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar is at present the chairman of HUDA.

The court of Gurugram chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Pardeep Choudhry on September 9 dismissed an application seeking registration of a first information report (FIR) against former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and six project promoters for allegedly conspiring with each other and causing monetary loss to the public exchequer. The CJM in its order said: “Had there been any misuse of powers by the then HUDA chairman (BS Hooda), it was expected of the present chairman (ML Khattar) to avail the remedy available under the June 14, 2011, lease agreement or any other law. But that has not been the case so.” The six project promoters are Gian Vijeshwar, Robin Vijeshwar, NK Surana, Manny Vijeshwar, Rakesh Babbar and Satish Vijeshwar.

The court said it does not appear that the former chief minister in conspiracy with the project promoter had altered the provisions pertaining to the sublease of land by lessee in favour of a third party and in turn, misused the powers of his office.

“As such, the fact that any monetary loss has been caused to the state by such act cannot be made the ground to register an FIR in the present case against the accused for the reason that the June 2011 registered lease deed still exists and not terminated by HUDA chairman till date. The present application is hereby dismissed being completely devoid of any merits,” the order said.

Gurugram-based Right to Information Act activist Hariender Dhingra had filed an application before the court accusing Hooda of misusing his official powers, conspiring with project promoters and causing financial loss to the tune of ₹2,900 crore to the state exchequer.

CHIEF MINISTER MANOHAR LAL KHATTAR, PRESENT CHAIRMAN OF HUDA, DID NOT TERMINATE THE LEASE