The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in the Panchkula Industrial Plot Allotment Scam against 22 accused. The case involves the allocation of 14 industrial plots worth Rs 30.34 crore to the acquaintances of the then Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda in 2013.
The ED initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR that was transferred to CBI.
Further investigation revealed that as a result of criminal conspiracy, Hooda, four retired IAS officers and other office bearers of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), Panchkula, Haryana illegally benefited pre-selected acquaintances of the then CM, Haryana by allotting them 14 industrial plots denying allotment to more worthy applicants.
Apart from Hooda, 4 retired IAS officers namely, Dharam Pal Singh Nagal (the then chief administrator, HUDA), Surjit Singh (the then administrator, HUDA), Subhash Chandra Kansal (the then chief controller of finance, HUDA), Narinder Kumar Solanki (the then zonal administrator, Faridabad Zone, HUDA) and other HUDA official Sh. Bharat Bhushan Taneja (the then Superintendent, HUDA) and all the 14 allottees and beneficiaries of the industrial plots allocation case have been involved in the commission of the offence of money laundering. The prosecution complaint against above mentioned accused has been filed under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 before the Hon’ble Special Court, PMLA, 2002 at Panchkula.
It was found during the investigation that the price fixed for the subject allotment were kept 4-5 times below circle rate and 7-8 times market rate. The criteria for allotment was altered 18 days after the last date of application and when all the applicant data was in possession of HUDA. The criteria were altered in such a way to favour the pre-selected applicants by increasing the discretion at the hands of the interview committee. The entire interview process was vitiated and compromised as no formal record of marks allocation was kept.
Hence, worthy applicants were driven out of merit and applicants who were closely connected to Bhupinder Singh Hooda, in terms of his personal capacity and also in terms of the political party he belongs to, were allotted these plots. All 14 industrial plots stand attached as per the provisions of PMLA, 2002 by Enforcement Directorate in August 2019 and the attachment was confirmed by the PMLA Adjudicating Authority in February 2020.
