BJP seeks report in Solan land purchase case

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, July 20

The BJP’s central organisation has sought a report in the land purchase case. The land was meant for the party’s Solan office where despite transferring Rs 85 lakh to the land owner’s bank account, it was cheated and the land was resold to another person in February this year.

The BJP failed to provide the seller’s balance land certificate to the district administration as its application for securing permission under Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act 1972, was pending for more than a year now.

The district administration had also sent a letter to the district BJP president to provide this certificate. The party had transferred Rs 85 lakh to Dina Nath’s bank account in two installments in October 2016 and July 2017. Dina Nath, however, again sold the land for Rs 26 lakh to someone else in February this year.

A purchase committee headed by the then district president, KL Thakur, and comprising Pawan Gupta and Rattan Pal as members was constituted. Gupta said that though he was a member, he was neither involved in the selection of the land nor its purchase.

BJP district president Ashutosh Vaidya, who lodged an FIR in the case on July 17, has already sent a preliminary report to the senior party leaders.

He said that the land owner, Dina Nath, had been dilly dallying over providing key documents such as the balance land certificate, delaying the process to secure permission under Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972. The party’s legal cell was examining the issue.

He added that they had the first right over the land as the most of the payment had already been made. A sum of Rs 5 lakh was to be paid after securing permission under Section 118. The land resold for Rs 26 lakh in February this year was priced at Rs 90 lakh in 2016.

Andhra Pradesh resident Raju, who is the convener of the Central Bhawan Nirman Samiti, had visited the state to review the progress of district-level offices to be set up in the state.

The case

• The BJP bought land near Solan to set up its office
• The party had transferred Rs 85 lakh to seller bank account in two installments in October 2016 and July 2017
• Dina Nath again sold the land for Rs 26 lakh to someone else in February this year