JOIN USFormer Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda found himself in trouble with the Haryana State Vigilance Bureau registering a case against him.
The agency registered a case of cheating and corruption against him and others in the case of land allotment to Associated Journals Limited (AJL) in Panchkula in 2005 at a throwaway price.
Undue benefits were given to AJL which caused a loss of Rs 64 lakh to the exchequer, it is said. AJL was then the publisher of The National Herald newspaper and B S Hooda, as chief minister of Haryana, was the chairman of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).
The FIR however does not mention the name of Hooda. Names of 4 HUDA officials, including the then HUDA chief administrator, and administrator, have also been mentioned in the FIR. Congress is terming it as a case of political vendetta.
The FIR states irregularities in the allotment of 3,360 square metres of plot in posh Sector 6 of Panchkula to AJL in 2005. It states said the then HUDA chief misused his post and violated rules to order the allotment of the plot. The plot was originally allotted to AJL in 1982, but was reclaimed in 1996 after the company defaulted.
Objections and noting by officials were overlooked in the allotment of this prime land in Panchkula at throwaway price by Hooda barely 6 months after coming to power in 2005 in his first term. The prime space in posh area was allotted by Hooda for a meager Rs 91 per square metre. Just 2 months before the Assembly polls, the occupation certificate was issued for the 4-storey building on August 14, 2014.