The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday questioned UPSC Member Chattar Singh in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of 14 Panchkula industrial plots in 2012. He was Principal Secretary to the then Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who has been named in the case.
“The investigating team has questioned Mr. Singh, a retired IAS official, as he was Principal Secretary to the then Chief Minister,” said a CBI official.
In May 2016, the CBI had taken over the probe into the alleged corruption case from the State Vigilance branch. The alleged irregularities took place when Mr. Hooda, by virtue of being the Chief Minister, was chairman of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). He had earlier termed the move a “witch-hunt” and “personal vendetta”.
Apart from the then HUDA chairman, three bureaucrats — retired IAS officer D.P.S. Nagal, who was Chief Administrator of HUDA, S.C. Kansal, the then Controller of Finance, and B.B. Taneja, the then HUDA Deputy Superintendent — and 13 beneficiaries have been named in the FIR. The role of other public servants is also being investigated.
According to the CBI, it has been alleged that after the final date for submission of applications, provisions of the allotment were changed and plots allocated to the beneficiaries at a price lower than the rate fixed by the government. The accused beneficiaries had submitted applications on January 24, 2012, 18 days after the last date of submission.
According to the CBI, the alleged beneficiaries were Sidharth Bhardwaj, Mona Devi, Anupam Sood and Sachin Sood, Nandita Hooda, Renu Hooda, Manjot Kaur, Kanwar Preet Singh, Raman Kansal, Dagar Katyal, Ganesh Ratan, Aman Gupta, retired Lt. Col. O.P. Dahiya and Ashok Verma.
After registering the case, the agency had last year conducted searches on the premises of the accused persons and their associates.
