CHANDIGARH: A special CBI court in
Panchkula on Thursday exempted former
Haryana chief minister (CM)
Bhupinder Singh Hooda from appearing before the court in relation to
Manesar land scam. Exemption was granted to Hooda after senior advocate RS Cheema informed the court that the former CM is extremely unwell due to diabetes-related problems and is undergoing treatment at AIIMS.
On March 16, the CBI court had issued summons to Hooda and 33 other accused persons asking them to appear before the court to face prosecution in relation to the land scam.
Besides Hooda, prominent among those who have been named as accused include former UPSC member Chattar Singh, who was then serving as a senior official in the Hooda government, Hooda’s then principal secretary ML Tayal, former IAS officer SS Dhillon and the then district town planner Jaswant Singh.
They have been charged under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with section 420 (cheating) and various sections of prevention of corruption act for obtaining valuable thing or pecuniary advantage by corrupt or illegal means.
The main allegations in the entire scam are that hundreds of acre land acquired from innocent farmers of Manesar and adjoining village in
Gurugram district at a low rate for “public purpose” was later licensed to real estate companies/builders/colonizers after bestowing out of term favours and concessions.
On September 17, 2015, CBI had registered an FIR in relation to the scam.
Former Haryana chief minister (CM) Bhupinder Singh Hooda.