Manesar land deal scam: Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda gets bail

Panchkula special CBI court has granted bail to former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Manesar land scam. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a case in September 2015 on allegations that private builders in conspiracy with public servants of the Haryana government had acquired land from farmers and landowners of Manesar at throwaway prices.

The land was reportedly purchased showing the threat of acquisition by the government.

The CBI had filed a charge sheet against Hooda and 33 others in a case of alleged corruption in Manesar land deals worth over Rs 1,500 crore. Twenty-nine builders and companies were also named in the charge sheet.

It is alleged that on August 27, 2004, and August 25, 2005, the Haryana government issued separate notifications for the acquisition of 912 acres of land for setting up an industrial model township at Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula villages in Gurgaon.

Threatening the farmers with the government's acquisition process, builders allegedly purchased around 459 acres from farmers at prices in the range of Rs 20-25 lakh per acre to Rs 1.50 crore per acre, according to CBI.

Around 350 acres of land were bought at a throwaway price of Rs 20-25 lakh per acre, while another 50 acres at the rate of even Rs 1.50 crore (approx) per acre, the agency said.

In 2007, the builders reportedly gave a plea in the office of the then chief minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, seeking withdrawal of the acquisition process which was done two months later on August 24, the CBI said.