E-Paper
E-auction of prime land: Ludhiana Improvement Trust chairman files criminal defamation suit against BJP leaders
Perturbed over the allegations of land scam pertaining to e-auction of 3.79 acres of prime land in Model Town Extension, chairman of Ludhiana Improvement Trust Raman Balasubramaniam has filed a criminal defamation case in the district court against BJP leaders
Perturbed over the allegations of land scam pertaining to e-auction of 3.79 acres of prime land in Model Town Extension, chairman of Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) Raman Balasubramaniam has filed a criminal defamation case in the district court against Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including state executive member advocate Bikram Singh Sidhu and Vineet Pal Singh Monga.
He also filed the suit against two journalists for allegedly presenting the ‘scam’ in news reports. After sharing information regarding the same on social media networks on Thursday, the chairman stated that the allegations levelled by the BJP leaders were baseless and defamatory.
Terming the allegations as fake propaganda, the chairman said, “The e-auction was organised as per the norms and the reserve price was fixed by the committee led by the DC. Even though the local bodies department had cancelled the auction citing discrepancies in the statement issued by me and the DC regarding the reserve price, there is no proof of a scam. Baseless allegations were levelled by the opposition to gain political mileage.”
“The BJP leaders and journalists defamed me by levelling baseless allegations, due to which I filed the criminal defamation suit. The petition was filed on August 28 and the documents including the news cutting, videos of these leaders etc. were submitted with the court on October 6. The next hearing is scheduled to be held on November 23,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sidhu and Monga stated that the action was a tactic to suppress the voice of the public, who have highlighted the wrongdoings of the chairman and his political boss- a cabinet minister in the past. They stated that they have full faith in the judicial system.
Sidhu said,” The land scam was unveiled after procurement of relevant documents and the DC also clarified that the reserve price was not fixed by the committee even when the chairman claimed that the price was fixed by the committee led by DC. We are not afraid of these tactics and will continue to unveil the frauds committed by the chairman in the past.”
Monga reiterated the same and stated that the chairman filed the suit out of frustration after they highlighted the alleged scam.
Earlier in August and September, BJP had raised an agitation against the alleged e-auction of prime land worth around ₹350 crore in Model Town Extension at throwaway price of around ₹98 crore.
In September, the local bodies department had cancelled the e-auction of 3.79 acres of land in Model Town Extension. BJP stated that the auction was cancelled by the state department due to the alleged scam.
Local bodies minister Brahm Mohindra had, however, stated that the auction was cancelled as there was a difference in the statement of the DC and the LIT chairman regarding fixation of reserve prices for the said land. An inquiry was marked in the case.
It was cancelled due to discrepancies, not allegations of any scam, he added.
