Manesar land scam case: Next hearing on October 3

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court here on Wednesday fixed October 3 as the next date of hearing in the Manesar land scam case.

One of the accused in the case, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda did not appear before CBI court today.

In July, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached 18.5 acres of land in Gurugram and Rs 66.57 crores lying in bank accounts of a private company and some others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the Manesar land scam case.

Hooda has been questioned by the CBI over the alleged financial irregularities in the acquisition of land in Manesar.

The case pertains to the alleged purchase of land from farmers in Gurgaon for Rs 100 crore when the actual worth, as per market rate, was said to have been Rs 1,500 crore.

The land was bought during the period between August 2004 and August 2007. The Congress government in Haryana, headed by Hooda, was in power from March 2005 to October 2014.

The purchase, according to the CBI, was made during August 2004 and August 2007, under "threat and false apprehension of acquisition of the land by the Congress government in Haryana".

In December last year, the investigation agency had filed a charge sheet against Hooda and Congress leader Motilal Vora for alleged fraudulent allotment of land to AJL in Panchkula in 2005.

Earlier, the ED had attached an institutional plot belonging to the Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) under the PMLA in the matter.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 26, 2019, questioned Hooda for over four hours in Delhi in connection with the Associated Journals Limited (AJL) land allotment case. Hooda will further appear before the ED officers to record his statement in the afternoon on Friday.