CHANDIGARH: The Haryana state vigilance bureau on Saturday registered a criminal case against former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and top functionaries of Haryana Urban Development Authority ( Huda ) in an allotment scam of industrial plots in Panchkula dating back to 2012-13 in which the criteria were allegedly tweaked at the last minute to favour 13 beneficiaries.

Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar recommended a CBI probe into the scam. One relative of Hooda – his nephew Rajender Hooda’s wife, Renu — and several relatives of his close aides are among the 13 alleged beneficiaries.

Hooda was chairman of Huda as he held the urban development department during his tenure as CM. Khattar’s move came after some applicants cried foul. “After the vigilance inquiry found irregularities in the allotment of plots, the CM recommended a CBI probe,” said Jawahar Yadav, OSD to the CM.

A report submitted by the state advocate general for registration of case against Hooda and other Huda officials referred to the 13 beneficiaries as “fortunates”. Huda’s then chief administrator D P S Nagal, chief controller of finance S C Kansal and then deputy superintendent B B Taneja, who were part of the committee that cleared the allotment, are among the accused.

The FIR said as Huda chairman, Hooda ignored criteria and approved a new set of conditions. It alleged that rules were changed at the last moment to suit the beneficiaries. Referring to the role of Nagal, it said he specifically overlooked all wrongs to facilitate his bosses. He is accused of ignoring the discrepancies in the forms of allottees.

The FIR said Kansal’s appointment to the committee was questionable and he fixed very low rates for industrial plots. Taneja has been named as the mastermind for misleading the authority as well as investigations.