Haryana land deal scam: CBI files chargesheet against former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, 33 others

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and 33 others in a Panchkula court in connection with the Manesar land deal scam, media reports have said. [caption id=“attachment_4332495” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. PTI[/caption] According to ANI, the land acquisition scam caused Gurugram farmers a loss of over Rs 1,500 crore. The CBI has filed the chargesheet under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to criminal conspiracy and cheating, and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act as well. Former UPSC member Chattar Singh, who was a senior officer in the Haryana government of Bhupinder Singh Hooda between 2004 and 2007, has also been named in the chargesheet as an accused, they said. In September last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it has registered a case of money laundering against Murari Lal Tayal, who was principal secretary in the Hooda government, and three of Tayal’s family members. The CBI had on 4 September registered a case against Tayal, his wife Savita, son Kartik, daughter Malvika, and the firm Kappac Pharma Ltd on the charge of possessing disproportionate assets. The chargesheet has been the biggest development in the Manesar land deal scam ever since. The CBI had registered the land deal case in September 2015 on allegations that private builders, in conspiracy with unknown public servants of the Haryana government, had purchased around 400 acres of land from farmers and landowners of the villages of Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula in Gurgaon at throwaway prices. The land was allegedly purchased by showing a threat of acquisition by the government. It is alleged that the state government had issued a notification under the Land Acquisition Act for the acquisition of 912 acres of land for setting up an industrial model township at these villages. Following the move, the land had been grabbed from landowners by private builders under the threat of acquisition at meagre rates, the CBI said, after registration of the case. The CBI has alleged in its FIR that land measuring about 400 acres, whose market value at that time was above Rs 4 crore per acre, was allegedly purchased by private builders for only about Rs 100 crore in collusion with government officers. With inputs from agencies