ED attaches Rs 834 cr assets with links to Bhupinder Hooda

The Enforcement Directorate of (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties valued at Rs. 834.03 crore belonging to EMAAR India and MGF Developments involving former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the former Director of Directorate of Town and Country Planning Trilok Chand Gupta.

The attached properties, covering 401.65 acres spread in 20 villages across Gurugram district, Haryana, and Delhi. The case alleges that EMAAR-MGF in collusion with Hooda and Director DTCP Trilok Chand Gupta, acquired land at undervalued prices, resulting in significant losses to both the public and the government.

This move comes as part of an ongoing investigation into a money laundering case connected to the issuance of a license by the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) in 2010 for a residential plotted colony in Sector 65 and 66 of Gurgaon.

The ED’s investigation was triggered by an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Besides Hooda and Gupta, the FIR also named EMAAR MGF Land Limited and 14 other colonizer companies as accused.

The case revolves around allegations of cheating landowners and the state of Haryana by exploiting the Land Acquisition Act of 1894. The accused are alleged to have issued notifications under Sections 4 and 6 of the Act to compel landowners to sell their land at prices significantly lower than market rates. Following this, the companies allegedly obtained Letters of Intent (LOIs) and licenses fraudulently, causing substantial financial losses to landowners and the state while reaping wrongful gains.

The origins of this controversy date back to June 2, 2009, when the Congress led Haryana government under Bhupinder Singh Hooda had allegedly issued a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, affecting 1417.07 acres of land, which included sectors 58 to 63 and 65 to 67 of Gurugram. A subsequent notification under Section 6, issued on May 31, 2010, covered approximately 850.10 acres of this land. During the period between these notifications, nearly 600 acres were selectively released from acquisition proceedings, enabling the grant of LOIs and licenses to the accused companies, reveals the ED.