However, he immediately landed himself in a soup after it emerged that he had submitted a false affidavit to hide previous plot awarded to him by a Punjab government agency under the sports quota.
Bindra had applied for a 500-square-yard plot under quota reserved for sportspersons in the much hyped Aerocity housing scheme floated by the state government agency, Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA). He got lucky in the draw and won the plot.
However, it emerged that he had earlier been allotted a plot under sports quota in 2002 in Sector 68 of Mohali by a government agency.
He had allegedly sold the plot for Rs one crore four years later. Rules govern that benefit of reservation under the sports quota cannot be availed twice by any sportsperson in a state-government run housing scheme.
In an affidavit which was required to be tagged with the application form for the Aerocity project, Bindra stated, “I have not availed myself of the benefit of allotment of plot/house/flat in any other scheme/station under the reserved category from any government agency.”
The government rules and the scheme’s brochure clearly stipulate cancellation of the allotment in case of false affidavit and criminal action against the offender.
The GMADA authorities are now scrutinising the application of Bindra and could review the allotment of plot to him in the Aerocity which is a proposed self-contained city to come up near the international airport at Mohali.
Abhinav Bindra remained inaccessible over phone when approached.
A GMADA official said on condition of anonymity that nobody who had got plot by submitting wrong undertaking would be spared. “If necessary, we will initiate criminal action,” he said. The Aerocity housing scheme had got huge response from the hopefuls aiming to own a piece of real estate and speculators as over three lakh applicants applied for 4,000-odd residential plots of various sizes.
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