The Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside criminal charges against former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and AJL in the Panchkula plot re-allotment case. The Court ruled that there was no material to establish criminal conspiracy or cheating, calling continuation of prosecution an abuse of process.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside the criminal charges against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Associated Journals Limited (AJL) in the Panchkula plot re-allotment case, giving them major relief. The case was related to the re-allotment of a plot in Sector 6, Panchkula, which was originally allotted to AJL in 1982.
The order was passed on February 25 by Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya. The High Court set aside the April 16, 2021 order of a special CBI court that had framed charges under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC, along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The special court had earlier dismissed the discharge pleas filed by the accused.
While allowing the petitions, the High Court clearly held that the material placed before it did not even show a prima facie case against the petitioners. The Court said that there were no sufficient grounds to continue criminal proceedings against them.
In its strongly worded order, the Court observed,
“Continuation of prosecution will be an abuse of the process of the court. The impugned orders, dated 16.04.2021, framing charges against the petitioners as well as dismissing the discharge application, are hereby set aside along with all subsequent proceedings arising therefrom, and the petitioners stand discharged,”
according to the February 25 order.
The case has its background in the allotment of a plot by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), now known as Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran, to AJL in 1982. However, in 1992, the plot was resumed because construction was not completed within the required time. AJL’s appeals against this decision were dismissed in 1995 and 1996.
In 2005, after Hooda became the Chief Minister of Haryana, the plot was re-allotted to AJL at the original rates. During the BJP government in the state, the Haryana Vigilance Bureau registered an FIR in 2016, alleging that the re-allotment had caused financial loss to the public exchequer.
Later, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which filed a chargesheet against Hooda and AJL.
The High Court, however, did not find merit in the prosecution’s case. It observed that the decision to re-allot the plot was a conscious and collective decision of the authority. The Court stated that such a decision cannot be called fake or inconsequential merely based on later statements of members who had earlier agreed to it without objection.
The judge further remarked,
“It is manifestly illegal and defies all logic. The fact that the CBI has charged only Hooda, the chairman of the authority, while ignoring all other members who ratified the decision, raises doubts about its bona fides and the nature of the investigation carried out.
“It gives credence to the assertions made by counsel R S Cheema that Hooda has been framed in the case for ulterior motives,”
the judge observed.
The Court also noted that the re-allotment decision had been unanimously ratified by the authority and had never been reviewed, recalled, or declared illegal by any court. It emphasized that the allotment still remains valid. Referring to the factual position, the order said,
“The allotment is valid as on date, it has also not been cancelled, nor declared illegal or arbitrary. Instead, the AJL, after payment of the re-allotment price as well as the extension fee, has raised construction, and has been given an occupation certificate by the authority on August 14, 2014,”
according to the order.
Importantly, the High Court pointed out that no complaint had been filed by the authority itself. The FIR was registered by the vigilance department based on a source report. The Court said that no grievance had been raised regarding any financial loss to the authority, and neither AJL nor any accused had been asked to compensate for any alleged loss. Even the government auditors had later dropped their objections.
Criticising the CBI’s approach, the Court observed,
“Ignoring these vital facts of the matter, the CBI has taken upon itself to term the re-allotment illegal, being violative of the 1977 Act, which would, in its view, attract criminal liability under the provisions of the IPC and the PC Act invoked against the petitioners.
“It is unfathomable as to how the investigating agency can consider the reallocation of the plot unlawful on its own, and proceed to register a criminal case on that basis. This is absolutely illegal, and far from any procedure known to law.”
as per the order.
The High Court also explained the legal standard required to frame criminal charges. It said that to fix criminal liability, there must be material on record showing the basic ingredients of the offence. In this case, the Court found no such material. It clearly stated, “In the facts of the case, there is no material to establish any agreement between the accused to intentionally cheat the authority by re-allotting the plot in question.
“Although there has been a request from the AJL seeking restoration of the plot to it, there is no material forthcoming to indicate that it was in concurrence with Hooda to fraudulently or dishonestly get the plot restored at the original rates,”
it said.
With these findings, the High Court discharged Hooda and AJL from all criminal charges, bringing a major development in the long-running Panchkula land re-allotment case.
Case Title:
The Associated Journals Limited v Central Bureau of Investigation,
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