Ready to face probe into tea estate deal, says Bhushan

Former law minister Shanti Bhushan on Thursday said his family was ready to face a probe by any government agency for the entire property owned by it, including his lawyer son Prashant’s tea estate at Palampur in Himachal Pradesh.

Former law minister Shanti Bhushan on Thursday said his family was ready to face a probe by any government agency for the entire property owned by it, including his lawyer son Prashant’s tea estate at Palampur in Himachal Pradesh.

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“We are ready for any probe by any agency of the government. All our transactions are clean and transparent. We do not believe in hanky panky and are prepared for any scrutiny. We have faced many such attacks earlier also,” Bhushan said.

His response followed allegations by the Congress party that the BJP government of Himachal Pradesh had allowed Prashant Bhushan to buy a tea estate at a concessional price in violation of rules.

“Outsiders cannot buy land in Himachal. How did the BJP government grant permission to Prashant Bhushan to buy a tea estate? They say the purpose is to build a charitable educational society there, but nothing has been done,” minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Rajiv Shukla had told reporters on Wednesday night.

RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya alleged the land was sold to Bhushan at an undervalued price. “The value of the land was shown much lower at almost R1.72 crore and the stamp value paid was R8.61 lakh,” he said.

He also questioned how Bhushan managed to get the agricultural land-that too, at a tourist spot-without being an agriculturist of the state.

Bhushan’s colleagues at the India Against Corruption said the Congress should get the matter probed. “Let it be probed by an independent Special Investigation Team headed by a judge, we are ready. There is nothing to hide,” said IAC activist, Kumar Vishwas.