AJL land allotment case: Vora seeks permanent exemption from appearance

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is also an accused in the case besides a few, however, appeared before the court on December 10

Senior Congress leader Moti Lal Vora on Tuesday sought permanent exemption from appearances in the special court of the enforcement directorate (ED) here in the ongoing Associated Journals Limited (AJL) plot allotment case.

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Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is also an accused in the case besides a few, however, appeared before the court on Tuesday.

The application, which was supported by an affidavit, was filed by the defence seeking permanent exemption from personal appearance in the case on health grounds, though the special ED court judge Jagdeep Singh exempted personal appearance of AJL chairman Vora for Tuesday only.

While the case was fixed for scrutiny of the challan documents, the defence also moved an application seeking some documents which it claimed had not been provided to the accused in the case.

The next date in the case has been fixed for January 21 after the ED counsel H P S Verma sought time for reply by prosecution.

On August 26, the ED had filed a prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Act in the court of special Central Bureau of Investigation judge Jagdeep Singh, that is also the special court for the ED.

The agency had registered a case on July 15, 2016, against AJL on the allegation that Hooda, the then state chief minister, had re-allotted plot no C-17 in Sector 6, Panchkula, to AJL. It was alleged that he ignored provisions of law and the opinion of all the officers against such re-allotment.

The said property has also been attached by ED since the past over a year. Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are also shareholders in the company. The plot had been initially allotted to AJL in 1982. After the expiry of the lease period in 1996, the then Haryana Vikas Party government, led by Bansi Lal, took back its possession. It was re-allotted to AJL after the Congress came to power in 2005. The CBI too is probing the alleged illegality in allotment.