Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and senior Congress leader Moti Lal Vora were granted bail in the land re-allotment case of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Panchkula on Thursday.

Hooda and Vora were granted bail by the special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh on sureties of Rs 5 lakh each, their counsel SPS Parmar said. The next date for hearing has been fixed for February 6, he said.

The CBI had filed a chargsheet against Hooda, Vora and Associated Journals Limited on December 1, 2018, under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 13(I)(d), read with 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In November 2018, Haryana governor Satyadeo Narain Arya sanctioned prosecution of Hooda in the case after CBI had sought state government’s approval to prosecute former chief minister. Under the amended Prevention of Corruption Act, the investigation agency now has to take the state government’s prior sanction to prosecute a former public servant.

Hooda and office bearers of AJL were charged with illegal re-allotment of the plot to AJL at old prices in 2005.

Hooda as chief minister was chairman of the Haryana Urban Development Authority at the time of plot re-allotment while Vohra was then chairman of the AJL.

In a statement, the CBI had said former CM in cahoots with others had allegedly abused his official position and dishonestly restored the institutional plot to the AJL at old rates, thereby, causing wrongful gain of ₹67.65 lakh to the AJL and loss to the state exchequer. The CBI said plot C-17 in Sector 6, Panchkula, was alloted on August 24, 1982, for publication of a Hindi newspaper, Navjivan. The plot measuring around 3,360 square metres, was re-allotted to AJL on June 29, 2005.

Hooda had defended his decision saying that there was no wrongdoing in the re-allotment.

AJL is a publisher of the National Herald, a newspaper founded by Jawaharlal Nehru and hence linked to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

First Published: Jan 04, 2019 07:39 IST