CHANDIGARH:Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was on Thursday booked by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case of re-allotment of a plot to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company that owned the Congress-controlled National Herald newspaper, in Panchkula in 2005.
According to sources, the AJL was allotted a plot in Panchkula in 1982 on which no construction took place until 1992 and subsequently the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) took back possession of the plot. However, under the chairmanship of Hooda, the same plot (no C-17), measuring 3,360 sqm, in Sector 6 of Panchkula was re-allotted to AJL at original rates on June 29, 2005, by allegedly violating norms.
Last year, Hooda was booked by the Haryana State Vigilance Bureau along with senior IAS officials, and others for allegedly having caused HUDA a loss of several crores of rupees as the plot should have been sold through an open auction instead of being allotted again to AJL.