Haryana Forestry case

Last updated

Haryana Forestry scam case
Emblem of the Supreme Court of India.svg
Court Supreme Court of India
Full case nameHaryana Forestry scam case
Case history
Subsequent action(s) CBI inquiry
Keywords
Political scams in India
Bhupinder Singh Hooda in 2010 Bhupinder Singh Hooda in WEF, 2010.jpg
Bhupinder Singh Hooda in 2010

Haryana Forestry scam case is a multi-crore fake plantation scam allegedly involving Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kiran Chaudhary and others where government money was embezzled. [1] In 2009, this scam was exposed by the whistleblower, Sanjiv Chaturvedi, [2] Ramon Magsaysay Award-winner [3] Indian Forest Service officer with then Government of Haryana, who filed a case in September 2012 to seek Supreme Court's instructions to CBI to investigate the case. [1] Earlier, Haryana Government had suspended him in 2007 for acting against illegal felling of trees and poaching in Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary, but his suspension was revoked by the President in 2008 and the chargesheet was overturned in 2011 on an appeal against the decision of Haryana government. [1] An inquiry committee of the Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) found Chaturvedi's allegations against Haryana government true, preferred an inquiry by Central Vigilance Commission and by CBI into dubious role of certain highly placed politicians and civil servants. [1] [2] CBI, in its reply to CVC, found Chaturvedi's allegations against then Haryana Government creditable enough for an independent inquiry. [1] As per the rules, CBI can not undertake suo motu investigation, only state government, high court or supreme court can ask CBI for it. [1]

Contents

There are a total of 6 CBI cases and several other vigilance department investigations against Hooda underway. [4] Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating several scams, mostly related to illegal land grab, that took place during his rule in Haryana. These investigations include the Gurugram-Manesar IMT land scam, Robert Vadra DLF land grab scam, Gurugram Rajiv Gandhi Trust land grab scam, Sonepat-Kharkhoda IMT land scam case, Garhi Sampla Uddar Gagan land scam, Panchkula-HUDA Industrial plots allotment scam, AJL-National Herald Panchkula land grab scam and Haryana Raxil drug purchase scam. He has been already chargesheeted in the Manesar-Gurugram land scam, while other cases are still under investigation (c. March 2018). [5] [4]

Details

Modus of scam

While posted at Fatehbad, the Forests officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi accused the Congress MLA Prahlad Singh Gillakhera of corruption in a herbal park establishment project. He alleged that Gillakhera's relatives were buying rare trees for their personal gardens with the taxpayers' money. [6] [7] [8]

Soon after his suspension, the Haryana Forest Department had started prosecution against the contractors, based on earlier reports filed by him. However, after the NGO Ekta Parishad moved against the accused in the Supreme Court in April 2008, the Hooda Government protected the violators. [9] [7]

"The matter was examined and the commission sought the opinion of the CBI on the same. The CBI has now confirmed that the issues raised by Sanjiv Chaturvedi are worthy of an independent probe. The CBI can take up the probe of such matters when notifications are issued u/ s 5& 6 of DSPE Act, 1946 by both the central and state governments"

Lila Chandran, Deputy Secretary of Central Vigilance Commission

Haryana government rejected MoEF's request in 2012 to initiate a CBI inquiry against the forestry scam. [1] Instead Haryana Government issued another charge sheet against Chaturvedi in August 2012, which too was overturned by the President of India. [1] Haryana administration filed a counter case in the High Court to seek cancellation of the presidential order favoring Chaturvedi and also against the formation of MoEF's earlier inquiry committee on this scam on the basis of ultra vires (beyond the powers of President and MoEF). [1] Chaturvedi filed a case in the Supreme Court in September 2012 asking for the CBI inquiry against this scam, where it is still pending (c. March 2018). [1]

Whistle blower, Sanjiv Chaturvedi, harassed by the then UPA administration in several ways, [10] [11] which forced him to move the Uttarakhand High Court, [12] [13] [14] and involve Prime Minister's office. [15] [16]

Current status: Supreme Court

The case is currently in the Supreme Court. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhupinder Singh Hooda</span> 9th Chief Minister of Haryana

Bhupinder Singh Hooda is an Indian National Congress politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition in Haryana Legislative Assembly. He also served as the Chief Minister of Haryana from 2005 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi</span> Public medical research university and hospital in New Delhi, India

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, also known as AIIMS Delhi, is a public medical research university and hospital in New Delhi, India. The institute is governed by the AIIMS Act, 1956 and operates autonomously under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Vigilance Commission</span> Apex Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption

Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an apex Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption. In 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the CVC. It has the status of an autonomous body, free of control from any executive authority, charged with monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government of India, advising various authorities in central Government organizations in planning, executing, reviewing, and reforming their vigilance work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DLF (company)</span> Indian commercial real estate developer

Delhi Land & Finance is a commercial real estate development company. It was founded by Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh in 1946 and it is based in New Delhi, India. DLF has developed residential colonies in Delhi such as Model Town, Rajouri Garden, Krishna Nagar, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Kailash Colony, and Hauz Khas. DLF builds residential, office, and retail properties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manesar</span> Town in Haryana, India

Manesar is a town and municipal corporation, known as New Gurugram City in the Gurugram district of the state of Haryana, India and a part of the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi. It is an Industrial Model Township home to factories and industrial activity from multinational corporations.

The Ruchika Girhotra case involves the molestation of 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra in 1990 by the Inspector General of Police Shambu in Haryana, India. After she made a complaint, the victim, her family, and her friends were systematically harassed by the police leading to her eventual suicide. On 22 December 2009, after 19 years, 40 adjournments, and more than 400 hearings, the court finally pronounced Rathore guilty under Section 354 IPC (molestation) and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000. The CBI had opposed Rathore's plea and had sought an enhancement of his sentence from six months to the maximum of two years after his conviction. Rejecting his appeal against his conviction by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court, Chandigarh District Court on 25 May sentenced the disgraced former police official to one-and-a-half years of rigorous imprisonment, enhancing his earlier six-month sentence and immediately taken into custody and taken to the Burail prison. On 11 November 2010, the Supreme Court granted bail to S.P.S. Rathore on the condition that he remain in Chandigarh. Recently, the Supreme Court of India upheld Rathore's conviction in molestation case but restricted the punishment to six months' jail already served by him considering his age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adarsh Housing Society scandal</span> Housing allocation scheme in Mumbai

The Adarsh Housing Society is a 31-story building constructed on prime real estate in Colaba, Bombay, for the welfare of war Widows and personnel of India's Ministry of Defence. Over a period of several years, politicians, bureaucrats and military officers allegedly conspired to bend several rules concerning land ownership, zoning, floor space index and membership getting themselves flats allotted in this cooperative society at below-market rates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashok Khemka</span> Indian Administrative Service Officer (IAS)

Ashok Khemka is an Indian civil service bureaucrat. He is an Indian Administrative Service officer of 1991 batch. He is best known for cancelling the mutation of Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's illegal land deal in Gurgaon. As of January 2023, he has been transferred 55 times in 30 years by state governments after he exposed corruption in the departments he was posted in. He is a whistleblower of several scams that took place under Bhupinder Hooda's regime, including the Robert Vadra DLF land grab scam, Sonepat-Kharkhoda IMT land scam case, and Garhi Sampla Uddar Gagan land scam. Ashok Khemka is Haryana's second-most transferred bureaucrat after another retired IAS officer, Pradeep Kasni, who was transferred 71 times in 35 years.

The Vyapam scam was an entrance examination, admission and recruitment scam. It was functional since the 1990s and was finally unearthed in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh in 2013.

Sanjiv Chaturvedi is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer posted as Chief Conservator of Forest (Research) at Haldwani in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand. Chaturvedi was a Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) at AIIMS, New Delhi from 2012 to 2014, and served in the government of Haryana from 2005 to 2012.

Pradyuman Thakur was a seven-year-old student at Ryan International School, in Gurugram, in the state of Haryana, India. He was found with injuries to his neck outside a washroom at the school on 8 September 2017, and he later succumbed to his wounds. A bus conductor who provided assistance with carrying the injured Pradyuman was initially charged with the murder, and allegedly confessed to police, but was later found to be innocent. Four police officers were later charged with framing him for the murder. Following a transfer of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation, an unnamed sixteen year old student from the same school has since been charged with his murder. The case is still going on, and the trial proceedings have not begun as of December 2021.

Rakesh Asthana is a retired Indian police office from the Indian Police Service (IPS). He was on the 1984 batch of Gujarat cadre who served as the Special Director at the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI). In July 2021, he was appointed as Police Commissioner of Delhi. He retired on 31 July 2022 after an extension of 1 year.

<i>AJL-National Herald Panchkula land grab case</i>

AJL-National Herald Panchkula land grab scam case, allegedly against Bhupinder Singh Hooda currently in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, is under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED). This case pertains to Hooda's alleged role for misusing his position as then Chief Minister of Haryana to cause wrongful gains to the Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and corresponding loss to the Government of Haryana, by illegally allotting a government plot of land worth several crores rupees (billions) to AJL for INR 59 lakh. Then Chief Minister, Hooda, was also the chairman of HUDA, a government entity which re-allotted the plot to AJL in 2005 in violations of rules and against the advice of the HUDA officials. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's BJP government of Haryana transferred the case to CBI, and CBI filed the FIR in April 2016. CBI booked Hooda for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and misuse of official position by public servants. AJL, which also owns National Herald, is controlled by the Indian National Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi among others.

<i>Manesar land scam</i>

Gurugram-Manesar Industrial Model Township land grab scam case pertains to the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and 33 others for the Manesar Industrial Model Township land acquisition scam. This scam resulted in INR1500 crore loss to the farmers of Manesar and neighbouring village in Gurugram district whose 688 acre land was being acquired at a low rate for "public purpose". This land was later licensed to real estate companies after granting them out of term favours and concessions. Private builders grabbed 400 acres land from farmers at throwaway price based on the threat of acquisition by the government. Once this land was bought by the builders, Hooda government released this land from the acquisition process in the favor of builders instead of the original owners. Market value of this 400 acre land was nearly INR4 crore per acre or total INR1600 crore, which was acquired by the builders at only INR100 crore, causing a loss of INR1500 crore to innocent farmer owners of Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula villages.

<i>Garhi Sampla Uddar Gagan land case</i>

The Rohtak-Garhi Sampla Uddar Gagan Model Township land grab case pertains to illegal acquisition and licensing of 850.88 acres land under Bhupinder Singh Hooda's rule as the Chief Minister of Haryana. Hooda acquired land from illiterate poor farmers at a throwaway prices in the name of "public interest" and later licensed this land to builders by granting them out-of-turn favors, which resulted in exponential increase in the land value, causing gains to big builders. HUDA issued notification on 11 April 2002 for acquiring 850.88 acres land for residential and commercial development in Sector 27-28 of Rohtak However, which was later reduced to acquire 441.11 acre on 8 April 2003. A private builder, Uddar Gagan Properties Limited, was granted license by Hooda' government to develop a colony across 280 acres of the released land [excluded from government acquisition], thus accruing illegal gains to private middlemen. HUDA issued notification on 11 April 2002 for acquiring 850.88 acres land for residential and commercial development in Sector 27-28 of Rohtak However, which was later reduced to acquire 441.11 acre on 8 April 2003. A private builder, Uddar Gagan Properties Limited, was granted license by Hooda' government to develop a colony across 280 acres of the released land [excluded from government acquisition], thus accruing illegal gains to private middlemen. Uddar Gagan is owned by Zee.

<i>Sonepat-Kharkhoda IMT land case</i>

Sonepat-Kharkhoda Industrial Model Township land case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Bhupinder Singh Hooda. This under-investigation scam pertains to acquisition of 700 acre land in 3 villages near Kharkhoda in Sonepat district for the Industrial Model Township.. Punjab and Haryana High Court in March 2013 and the Supreme Court of India in May 2016 had cancelled the government's decision to release land to the private builder. Two senior officials in then Chief Minister Hooda's office were indicted for allegedly favouring the developers. Subsequently, in 2018 the Government of Haryana referred the case to CBI to investigate the against Hooda and others.

<i>Haryana Raxil drug purchase case</i>

Haryana Raxil drug purchase scam case is a case under investigation by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Bhupinder Singh Hooda for the illegal purchase of Raxil fungicide which resulted in INR80 crore loss to the government. This scam, initially exposed by Ashok Khemka, is also pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

<i>DLF land grab case</i>

DLF land grab case is a case related to 50 acre land grab in 2013 in Amipur village of Haryana during the Congress' Bhupinder Singh Hooda government, for which Robert Vadra, Hooda and DLF are being investigated by the CBI. Hooda's generosity towards land sharks and builders caused huge losses to farmers and Haryana Government. Consequently, there are Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiries and court cases against him related to shady land deals. Those deals include the allotment of a highly subsidised land and change in land use license for his relatives and influential friends connected to Indian National Congress, such Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra. Jitesh Vadra made illegal gains of over INR50 crore from this land deal within few months in 2008. CBI has filed an 80,000 page long chargesheet in the court related to this case and Manesar land scam case.

<i>Gurugram Rajiv Gandhi Trust land grab case</i> Indian political case

Gurugram Rajiv Gandhi Trust land grab case against Robert Vadra and Bhupinder Singh Hooda is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as per Supreme Court of India's order. In the Gurugram Rajiv Gandhi Trust land grab scam between 2004 and 2014, then Government of Haryana administration of Indian National Congress's Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had handed over panchayat land to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in the name of public interest use, resulting in this trust being sued by the gram panchayat in Punjab and Haryana High Court against the land grabbing of the Gandhi family by the Hooda government. Then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. who also held the charge of Panchayat department at that time, had approved the grant of 5.3 acre panchayat land to Rajiv Gandhi Trust for 33 years at a rate of Rs 3 lakh per acre in January 2010, trust applied for the change of land use on 3 December 2010, which was approved on the same day.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Haryana Forestry Scam: Whistleblower IFS Officer Gets Relief From SC, LiveLaw.in, 22 Feb 2018.
  2. 1 2 Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda may face CBI heat over forest scams, India Today. 11 Jan 2012.
  3. Centres appraisal rating for magsaysay award winning civil servant zero Sanjiv haturvedi, Indian Express.
  4. 1 2 Hooda under investigation by CBI in several cases, Navbharat Times, 13 Mar 2018.
  5. CBI to probe two more Hooda govt land deals, The Tribune, 14 March 2018.
  6. Yamini Deenadayalan (26 February 2011). "No Sanctuary for Good Men". Tehelka. 8 (8).
  7. 1 2 In Haryana, you are punished if you fight corruption!
  8. A clean slate for hounded officer
  9. Chander Suta Dogra (13 August 2012). "Old Jungle Saying".
  10. IB says diligent officer, Indian Express.
  11. Outstanding rating of the officer, Indian Express.
  12. Officer petitions HC, Times of India.
  13. Puzzling decision by HC, Times of India.
  14. Sanjiv Chaturvedi-whistleblower officer plea, The Wire.
  15. PMO steps into resolve row over whistleblower, The Hindu.
  16. RTI reveals Modi Called Health Minister to discuss Whistleblower Sanjov Chaturvedi, The Wire.