Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday said that allegations of corruption in Panchkula Industrial Plot case against him is a case of political vendetta as the BJP Government is behaving like a blind man looking for a black cat.
A day after Haryana Vigilance Department registered an FIR against Hooda and three others in Panchkula Industrial Plot case on orders of Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar, Hooda alleged, “It is a complete case of political vendetta and witch hunting.”
Hooda said, “This Government has failed on every front and trying to divert the attention from their corruption cases. They are behaving like a blind man looking for black cat in black bag in dark night which is not there.”
Haryana government has also recommended a CBI inquiry into the case. The three others, against whom the case has been registered are former Chief Administrator of Haryana Urban Development Authority DPS Nagal, former Chief Finance Officer SC Kansal and another former officer of HUDA BB Taneja.
Chief Minister Manohar lal has said that there were allegations of nepotism and favoritism and cheating in the allotment of 14 industrial plots by HUDA in Panchkula . Hooda was chairman of HUDA as he held the urban development department during his tenure as the Chief Minister.
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".
The FIR stated 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.