E-Paper
Ex-assembly deputy speaker Bir Devinder moves Punjab Lokpal over Mohali land deal
Says the case be handed over to CBI to look into the role of industries minister Sunder Sham Arora and department officials
Former Vidhan Sabha deputy speaker Bir Devinder Singh on Thursday moved the Punjab Lokpal seeking directions to investigate the controversial sale of 31-acre land of now liquidated JCT Electronics in Mohali.
The land deal has caused a loss of ₹400 crore to the state exchequer, he claimed.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) leader said besides setting aside the sale, the investigation in the matter be handed over to the CBI to look into the role of state industries minister Sunder Sham Arora and department officials in the episode.
A copy of the complaint was also sent to the state departments of home, police, finance and industries besides the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking an early action.
In his complaint to the Lokpal, Bir Devinder demanded that the entire records of the sale/auction of the land be seized by the Punjab Small Industries and Exports Corporation (PSIEC) and orders e issued for registration of an FIR before handing over the matter to the CBI.
Reacting to the complaint, industries minister Arora said, “We have already cancelled the deal on August 5. There is nothing to complain about now. It’s all political.”
Bir Devinder, however, said that nothing had changed except cancellation of a tripartite agreement between the state government, bidders who took the land (GRG Developers) and the company assets reconstruction India limited (ARICL) who was transferred the land by the liquidator. “The industries minister is directly involved and an action be initiated against him,” he reiterated.
The former deputy speaker said even as the GRG Developers had deposited ₹45 crore, half of the total deal amount, it started selling the land at ₹30,000 per square yard. “When I raised the issue for the first time in December 2020, the company stopped operations and also pulled down its website,” he said.
In his complaint, the SAD (Sanyukt) leader has made the managing director and all members of the board of directors of PSIEC, corporation chief general manager SP Singh and the Punjab Infotech managing director respondents.
The complaint reads: “The respondent number 7 (industries minister), who himself is a developer, took personal interest in the matter and supervised the proceedings of the meeting by staying in the department office in Chandigarh to ensure that the agenda be cleared.”
