Accusing the Congress-led State Government of orchestrating major scams including the alleged scam in procurement of the tea garden land for construction of the proposed smart city in Dehradun, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravinder Jugran has questioned the State Government on various aspects of this land deal.
Jugran directed questions at the CM Harish Rawat in light his recent decision to form three-member Cabinet committee to inquire into all land allocations since State formation in 2000 till the present. He said, “During the term of Rawat, why has the State Government not yet inquired into the tea garden land scam orchestrated on the pretext of smart city projectIJ Since 1973, the tea garden land had been in the court of law with the State Government versus the Doon Tea Company, since 1973 and for the last forty years, the then Uttar Pradesh Government and later the Uttarakhand Government had staked their claim to the ownership of this land. The State Government pursued the case for 40 years till October 2015 when a decision was taken in favour of the tea company in the court of additional district magistrate. What was it that caused this sudden change in the stance of the State Government regarding the ownership of tea garden landIJ While the State’s advocate had recommended that this decision should be challenged in the higher court by the State Government, the secretary, legal, suggested that the decision not be challenged by the State Government in the higher court.”
Accusing Chief Minister Harish Rawat of using coercion and pressure tactics against his political rivals and opponents, Jugran alleged that the decision to conduct the said land inquiry was intended to pressurise his opponents, not to act against the corrupt in the interests of Uttarakhand. He said, “For so many years, during his tenures of Pradesh Congress Committee president, a Union minister and his two years as the chief minister, Rawat never made a demand for investigation into alleged scams in the allocation of government land to various bodies and individuals. Instead of the three-member cabinet committee, the inquiry into land allocations should be conducted by a sitting judge of the High Court or an independent agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation if he is serious regarding land allocations since State formation,” added Jugran.