Lokpal panel co-chairman Shanti Bhushan. Lokpal panel co-chairman Shanti Bhushan.

A fresh controversy brews around a huge farmland owned by a son of former Union minister Shanti Bhushan . Apparently, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati had gifted the 10,000 square metre plot of land in Noida.

Shanti Bhushan, who is a co-chairman of the recently constituted panel to redraft the Lokpal Bill, has been facing a volley of charges ever since he was entrusted by Anna Hazare-led civil society to jointly head the committee. His lawyer son Prashant Bhushan is also a member to the panel.

In his declaration of assets last week, Shanti Bhushan mentioned a 10,000 square metre farmland plot in Noida. He however did not mention how the Mayawati government allotted the plot to his lawyer son Jayant Bhushan in a discretionary manner earlier this year.

What raises questions of conflict of interest is the fact that Jayant has appeared against Mayawati in the Noida statue park case.

Incidentally, discretionary land allotment by the government is a key issue on the agenda of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on corruption.

In fact, the allotment of Noida farmland has led to a case in the Allahabad High Court, which has been filed by another allottee, former additional solicitor general Vikas Singh.



Jayant denies charge



Denying any wrongdoing to secure the Noida plot, Jayant alleged that it was part of a smear campaign against his family to derail their fight against corruption. He said there was no question of a conflict of interest in the allotment of land and that the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Noida) should have held a draw for allotments.

The Bhushans have already been amidst a CD controversy allegedly containing conversation between Shanti Bhushan, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his former associate Amar Singh. They have even challenged the authenticity of the CD.

Earlier, Allahabad district administration had slapped a notice on the former law minister for evading stamp duty to the tune of Rs 1.3 crore for a bungalow in the posh civil lines area. While the authorities claimed Bhushan paid the stamp duty based on the property value of around Rs 6.5 lakh, its actual market price was over Rs 20 crore.