Yadav let off in hospital land case

Tainted former Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Neera Yadav was on Tuesday acquitted by a CBI-designated court in a case related to alleged irregularities in allotment of land to Kailash Hospital, a private health facility in Noida.

Tainted former Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Neera Yadav was on Tuesday acquitted by a CBI-designated court in a case related to alleged irregularities in allotment of land to Kailash Hospital, a private health facility in Noida.

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The court acquitted Yadav and Dr Mahesh Sharma, chairman-cum-managing director of Kailash Hospital.

The hospital had got its land following a scheme of allotment of land for nursing homes and hospitals in Noida in 1991. Two categories, 1500 sq metres and 4000 sq metres, were offered under the scheme for nursing homes and hospitals, respectively.

The matter came to light after the CBI started investigations into the land allotment. A total of 4140 sq meters of land was allotted to Kailash Hospital by Neera Yadav, who also allegedly converted the land use of four residential plots into institutional category to favour the hospital.

Sharma told Hindustan Times that during the scheme's application and allotment stage Yadav was the third officer to join. Yadav joined Noida Authority in January 1994 after Ravi Mathur was transferred. Mathur had earlier replaced Hemendra Kumar.

"The entire allotment was done during the tenure of several officers and was not in violation of any rules and regulations. We also paid Rs 82.8 lakh per acre, which was the highest in the country for hospital land at that time. Our case was maintained and that has led to our acquittal," Sharma said.

CBI Special Judge (anti-corruption) AK Singh acquitted Yadav and Sharma stating that the CBI "failed to prove the case". In all, 13 witnesses were produced by the CBI in the Kailash Hospital case.