Case against Hooda for plot sale to Herald parent firm

CHANDIGARH: The state vigilance bureau (SVB) has slapped another case on former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, along with four IAS officers, for allegedly re-allotting a plot in Sector 6 of Panchkula to the Congress-linked Associated Journals Limited (AJL), owner of National Herald.A case under sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant), 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 23 of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against Hooda, who was the ex-officio chairman of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) as CM, as well as two financial commissioners, chief administrator and administrator of the authority at SVB’s police station in Panchkula.Hooda and the four IAS officers had allegedly recommended the re-allotment of the plot to AJL in violation of rules and bylaws. The SVB has said the act caused HUDA a loss of several crores as the plot should have been sold through open auction instead of re-allotment to AJL.The case was registered on May 5, a day after leader of the opposition in Haryana assembly Abhay Singh Chautala demanded that Hooda and others be booked for their alleged role in plot re-allotment.