CBI files chargesheet in land allotment case

The CBI filed a chargesheet against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress leader Motilal Vora on Saturday in connection with the alleged irregularities in the re-allotment of an institutional plot in Panchkula, Haryana to the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which is allegedly controlled by Congress leaders.

The central agency, which filed the chargesheet in a special court, has alleged that the reallotment of the plot, C-17, has caused a loss of Rs 67 lakh to the exchequer.

The agency has charged the then Haryana chief minister Hooda, who was also the chairman of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), the then chairman of the AJL, Vora, and the company under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to criminal conspiracy and the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In the chargesheet, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that the AJL was allotted a plot of land in Panchkula in 1982, on which no construction took place till 1992.

The HUDA had subsequently taken back the possession of the plot.

The chargesheet alleged that the same plot was re-allotted to the AJL at its original rates in 2005 by allegedly violating the laid down norms by the then HUDA chairman, Hooda.

The AJL is reportedly controlled by senior Congress leaders, including members of the Gandhi family. The group runs the National Herald newspaper.