Manesar land scam: CBI court calls for expeditious hearing

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 19

The CBI Special Court, Haryana, has called for expeditious hearing in Manesar land scam involving former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, as no effective hearing could be carried out in the last 14 dates due to Covid pandemic.

On the last hearing on October 15, neither the accused were present nor their lawyers. There are 34 accused parties in the case, including Hooda, former IAS officers and private firms. The court is located in Panchkula.

In the last hearing, CBI Special Judge Jagdeep Singh said that “since the matter pertains to case involving legislators and proceedings in such cases are to be conducted expeditiously, so notices be issued to the accused as well as their counsel to explore the possibility of conducting further proceedings through video conferencing, if physical hearing of the matters does not get fully functional”.

He added that in case physical hearing of the matters is made mandatory till the next date of hearing on November 16, then all the accused “shall positively” be present on the adjourned date.

“It is made clear that effective hearing is to be started in such matters and accordingly parties to the list are directed to ensure participation in the proceedings of the matter either through physical mode or through virtual mode,” he said.

Recently, the apex court had also called for expeditious trial of sitting MLAs and MPs who are facing criminal cases.

In the Rs 1,500-crore Manesar land scam, besides Hooda, the CBI had filed chargesheet against former Principal Secretaries to CM ML Tayal and Chhattar Singh and then Director, Town and Country Planning, SS Dhillon under cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A notification to acquire 912-acre and seven marlas land was issued under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, on August 27, 2004 in Manesar, Lakhnaula and Naurangpur villages. Landowners in haste sold land at throwaway rates of Rs 20-25 lakh per acre.

According to the CBI, when all the land had been grabbed from the land owners by land mafia under the threat of acquisition at meagre rates, an order was passed by the Director of Industries on August 24, 2007 for releasing the land in violation of government policy, in favour of the builders, their companies and agents, instead of the original land owners.

The CBI claims that the landowners suffered collective loss of Rs 1,500 crore.