DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand High Court has asked the CBI to explain what steps it has taken to probe the alleged irregularities - running into hundreds of crores of rupees - in the procurement of land for NH-74 in Udham Singh Nagar district.
The Trivendra Singh Rawat government in the state had recommended the investigation more than six months ago.
The scam relates to land acquisition for widening the National Highway-74, for which farmland was shown as nonagricultural land allegedly with the complicity of officials to increase compensation by up to 20 times. Irregularities to the tune of Rs 240 crore were detected in the scam by the SIT.
A division bench of the high court comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Lokpal Singh yesterday asked the CBI to file an affidavit before it by October 28, explaining the steps it has taken to investigate the alleged scam.
The order came on a plea by Rudrapur resident Ram Narayan who had sought a CBI probe in the matter, his lawyer Aditya Singh said.
The alleged scam happened during the previous government.
It was unearthed after the BJP came to power in the state in March. Chief Minister Rawat soon recommended a CBI probe into the issue on the basis of a report submitted by then Kumaon commissioner D Senthil Pandiyan, who headed an Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was looking into the scam.
However, a CBI probe is yet to be ordered in the matter.
The opposition Congress has accused the BJP government at the Centre of shying from a CBI probe to save some influential people involved.