The Haryana government has called for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into a case of alleged irregularities in the allotment of a Panchkula plot to the Congress-linked Associated Journals Ltd. in 2005. The agency is yet to receive the reference through the Department of Personnel and Training.
The plot in question was reallotted to the company in 2005, when Bhupinder Singh Hooda was Haryana Chief Minister, allegedly overruling reservations expressed by the departments. Earlier this year, the Haryana Police registered a case of alleged irregularities, which is said to have caused a loss of over Rs. 60 lakh to the exchequer. Based on the FIR, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated a investigation into money laundering in July.
According to the police, the company was first allotted the plot in 1982 for running its Hindi newspaper Navjeevan . However, as it could not complete the construction in time, the allotment was cancelled in 1992. The company made several appeals against the cancellation, but they were turned down.
During the tenure of Mr. Hooda, the company again moved a petition. The government approved reallotment allegedly at the 1982 rate.
The departments concerned had, however, recommended that a fresh advertisement be published for its reallocation as the first allotment had been cancelled. According to the ED, it is alleged that on Mr. Hooda’s instructions, the AJL was given extensions and it finally finished the construction in 2013.
