The case has been registered under various sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act. (File Photo)
The CBI has registered a case against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for alleged irregularities in allocation of industrial plots at Panchkula when he was the chairman of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), a move dubbed by him as "personal vendetta".
The case which was handed over from the Vigilance Bureau of Haryana to the CBI has named "the then Chairman of HUDA", three former bureaucrats, 13 beneficiaries and unknown officials of the authority and state government.
After registering the case on May 16, the CBI carried out searches at 16 locations including Chandigarh, Panchkula, Faridabad, Delhi, Gurgaon, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Rohtak against the former bureaucrats and beneficiaries who are alleged to have used their "links" in getting industrial plots at Panchkula.
According to the FIR, industrial plots were given to 14 people by allegedly manipulating certain provisions of allotment which included allowing them to submit their applications even after the last date of submission ended.
The 14 people who had been allotted land had submitted their applications on January 24, 2012 whereas the last date of submission was January 6, 2012, the FIR alleged.
The former chief minister, while reacting to the CBI move, termed it as "personal vendetta" and alleged that these cases were only "diversionary tactics" being adopted by BJP-led government in the state.
"They have not been able to fulfil any of the promises made so far. So they are diverting the people's attention through such cases which is purely witch-hunting. The state government could have waited for the order of Punjab and Haryana High Court where the matter is already pending," he said.
Besides chairman of HUDA, others named in the FIR are retired IAS officer DPS Nagal, the then Chief Administrator of HUDA, SC Kansal, the then Controller of Finance and BB Taneja, the then Deputy Superintendent of HUDA.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had ordered that the State Vigilance Bureau register an FIR in the Panchkula plot case after which the matter is now set to be referred to the CBI.
The FIR also alleged that ineligible beneficiaries were allotted plots at rates lesser than the prevailing market rates, causing financial loss to the tune of several crores of rupees to the state exchequer.
It is alleged that the 14 plots, ranging from 496 square metre to 1,280 square metre, were allegedly allotted at throwaway prices after changes were made midway in the eligibility criteria.
Those allotted the industrial plots included Renu Hooda, Manjot Kaur, Nandita Hooda, Mona Beri, Pardeep Kumar, KPS Sandhu, Dagar Katyal, Ganesh Dutt Ratan, Aman Gupta, Lt Col OP Dahiya (retd), Sidharth Bhardwaj, Ashok Verma, Anupam Sood and Sachin Sood.
It is alleged that all of them were related to politicians, bureaucrats and other influential people which included the then chief minister of the state.
The case has been registered under various sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.