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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.
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.
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. In 2009, this scam was exposed by the whistleblower, Sanjiv Chaturvedi, Ramon Magsaysay Award-winner 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. 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. 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. CBI, in its reply to CVC, found Chaturvedi's allegations against then Haryana Government creditable enough for an independent inquiry. As per the rules, CBI can not undertake suo motu investigation, only state government, high court or supreme court can ask CBI for it.
The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India is the senior-most bureaucrat in, and the administrative head of, the Prime Minister's Office. The officeholder is generally a civil servant, commonly from the Indian Administrative Service and occasionally from the Indian Foreign Service. The post is considered one of the most influential in the Indian civil services, and some principal secretaries are considered more powerful and influential than senior government ministers.
References
- 1 2 3 "India Today High and Mighty power list 2013: Top 10 officials -". India Today. 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ↑ "Nair appointed advisor to PM, Pulok Chatterji as Principal Secretary". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 28 July 2011.
- ↑ "Pulok Chatterji is principal secretary to PM, Nair adviser". The Times of India . 29 July 2011. Archived from the original on 1 November 2011.
- ↑ "Pulok Chatterjee, close Sonia associate, joins PMO as Principal Secy". Indian Express. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ↑ "Profiles: Pulok Chatterjee". Outlook. 23 April 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- 1 2 Sandeep Bamzai (19 August 2011). "Family Choice: Pulok Chatterji tainted by scams before taking over as principal secretary to PM". India Today . Retrieved 15 October 2011.
- ↑ Bamzai, Sandeep (19 August 2011). "Pulok Chatterji tainted by scams before taking over as principal secy to PM". India Today. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
- ↑ "PM's secretary behind tampering of coal report: Jaitley". News18. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
- ↑ "The PMO, the coal scam, the missing sentence and the CBI". Rediff. Retrieved 10 November 2019.