Trouble is mounting for Delhi-based businessman Amit Katyal who was arrested in November 2023 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly assisting former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family in money laundering. Katyal who was granted bail by the Delhi high court (HC) on September 17, 2024, in the money laundering case now faces trial in the Gurgaon land release case after his plea for setting aside the CBI court’s March 9, 2021 order, summoning him to face the trial, was dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana HC on December 4.
The Gurgaon land release case was investigated by the CBI on 2017 orders of the Supreme Court. Amit Katyal was summoned as an accused by the CBI court on March 9, 2021, after the court had asked the investigating officer to file an affidavit explaining how, why and under what circumstances he has not been included as an accused in the chargesheet even though there is a categoric mention in the challan about his role in the alleged criminal conspiracy and offences. Subsequently, he petitioned the Punjab and Haryana high court with a prayer to set aside the CBI court’s order to summon him to face the trial.
The Punjab and Haryana HC in a July 1, 2021 order said that without looking into the individual role of a person in the capacity of the managing director at the first instance amounted to leaving legal flaws in the investigation at the institutional level considering the fact that in a number of cases the CBI, while furnishing the chargesheet (as even noticed by the Supreme Court in Sunil Mittal Bharti case), only arrayed companies as accused through director/managing director. The HC also said that the trial court is directed to adjourn the case beyond the date fixed before the HC. The status quo continued till December 4 when an HC bench dismissed Katyal’s plea stating that it finds no perversity or illegality requiring the court to interfere in the instant matter.
Following the HC order dismissing Katyal’s plea, special CBI judge Rajeev Goyal on December 4 listed the trial case for January 20, 2025, for consideration on charge.
{{/usCountry}}Following the HC order dismissing Katyal’s plea, special CBI judge Rajeev Goyal on December 4 listed the trial case for January 20, 2025, for consideration on charge.
{{/usCountry}}ED action against the businessman
The ED had on October 17, 2024, provisionally attached properties worth ₹56.86 crore of Krrish Realtech Pvt. Ltd, Amit Katyal and others under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with “siphoning and illegal diversion of plot buyers’ money by accepting the same without having any licence from DTCP in its name.”
The ED had also arrested Katyal on November 11, 2023, in money laundering investigations in the job-for-land scam in Bihar. The agency had initiated investigations based on FIR registered by the CBI against the then Union railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and others for entering into a criminal conspiracy to abuse official position and obtain pecuniary benefits in the form of land parcels being transferred to his family members and companies thereof in return for appointment of candidates to the post of substitute (Group-D) under the various zones of the Indian Railways during 2004-2009 period, commonly known as job-for-land scam.
As per the CBI FIR, seven land parcels measuring about 1,05,292 square feet situated at Patna were acquired by the family members of Lalu Yadav through five sale deeds and two gift deeds. The poor candidates were told to transfer land as a bribe in return for jobs in Indian Railways as per the FIR.
Gurgaon land release case
Krrish Buildtech, as per the CBI FIR, was probably one of the biggest beneficiaries of the state government’s generosity as 130.256 acres, spread across four Gurugram villages--Nangli Umarpur, Kadarpur, Ullahwas and Maidawas, was released from the acquisition for the company. “Licence number 64/2010 for 151.569 acres was issued to the accused company (Krrish Buildtech) vide memo dated August 23, 2010, by excluding about 130 acres land notified on May 31, 2010, under Section 6 (declaring that the land is required for public purpose) of Land Acquisition Act,’’ reads the CBI chargesheet.
The chargesheet said the license application of Krrish Buildtech was processed at an abnormal speed between April 20, 2010, and May 27, 2010, the date of receipt of the application and date of issuance of the letter of intent, respectively.
Katyal’s company got licence despite discrepancies
The CBI chargesheet submitted in a court in January 2021 said the accused company Krrish Buildtech through its director Amit Katyal, in criminal conspiracy with the then Chief Town Planner and other officials, was successful in getting a licence based on incomplete documents having major discrepancies, including change of land schedule, by releasing notified land from acquisition proceedings, thereby, cheating the landowners, HUDA and the state Haryana government. Therefore, they committed an offence under Sections 120-B read with 420, 468, 471 of the IPC and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, the CBI said.
As per the CBI, Amit Katyal remained active director in the company Krrish Buildtech in 2010 when the real estate development licence (number 64/2010), for developing about 151 acres of plotted colony in Gurugram, was granted to it.
The name of the company was changed to M/s Brahma Krrish Buildtech Pvt Ltd in December 2010 and further changed to M/s Brahma City Private Ltd in February 2011. Katyal remains a director of Brahma City.
CBI probed builder-public servant nexus for wrongful enrichment
The CBI in 2018 started a preliminary enquiry (PE) in the allegations that 15 real estate development companies in criminal conspiracy with public servants had cheated land owners and farmers in Gurugram. An FIR was subsequently registered by the agency against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, 15 real estate companies and public servants in 2019. Hooda though has not been named as an accused in the CBI chargesheet. The FIR said that the initiation of the land acquisition process compelled landowners to sell their land to real estate developers at a lower price and colonisers fraudulently obtained letters of intent on the notified land, causing loss to landowners and corresponding wrongful gain to themselves. It was alleged that about 95% of the land was released from the acquisition time to time after private builders purchased the property from poor agriculturists and the entire purpose of acquisition stood defeated due to the illegal release of land.