Supreme Court orders CBI investigation in Haryana land case

A three-judge bench headed by justice Uday U Lalit expressed dissatisfaction with the inquiries conducted by the Haryana government, saying it was time to hand over the probe to the central agency for a thorough investigation into illegalities and the role of officials in releasing the land to Uddar Gagan.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the culpability of Haryana government functionaries and officials for releasing nearly 400-acre land in Rohtak from acquisition, and granting colonisation licences on 280 acres to real estate developer Uddar Gagan Properties in 2005-06, when Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the CM.

This the second instance of CBI investigating the alleged complicity of Haryana government officials and private builders in tainted land deals when Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the chief minister between 2005 and 2014.

A three-judge bench headed by justice Uday U Lalit expressed dissatisfaction with the inquiries conducted by the Haryana government, saying it was time to hand over the probe to the central agency for a thorough investigation into illegalities and the role of officials in releasing the land to Uddar Gagan. Hooda was not available for a comment.

This the second instance of CBI investigating the alleged complicity of Haryana government officials and private builders in tainted land deals when Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the chief minister between 2005 and 2014. CBI, which was probing the land deal in Gurugram’s Manesar at the instance of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, was told by the Supreme Court in March 2018 to also look into substantial sums allegedly paid to “middlemen” for the Manesar deal.

The bench, which included Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Aniruddha Bose, expressed anguish at the government’s inaction in fastening the responsibility of its officials for their role in releasing 400 acres of land in Rohtak.

“This court delivered a judgment in 2016, and five years down the line, we are still groping in the dark. We wanted the fraud to be unearthed, and we wanted those involved should be proceeded against. But the whole thing looks like a subterfuge now,” observed the bench.

It lamented that the latest inquiry report by an IAS officer, Anurag Rastogi, flagged just a “systemic failure” and did not fix anyone’s responsibility. The judges accepted the submission of senior advocate and amicus curiae Joydeep Gupta that the present case warrants a CBI probe since all inquiries by the state governments have failed to pinpoint the culpability of any official of the state government.