Former Himachal minister booked for fraud

A former Himachal Pradesh minister was booked Thursday for the allotment of a prime residential plot in Dharamsala to his wife when he was heading an urban development authority, a police official said.

A case against misuse of power by Kishan Kapoor, while he was chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Housing and Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Deputy Inspector General (Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau) A.P. Singh told reporters here.

Kapoor was a minister in the P.K. Dhumal-led Bharatiya Janata Party government

Singh said the case was registered after the state high court, hearing a petition Aug 2, ordered a probe into the allotment of a prime residential plot in Dharamsala to Kapoor's wife when he was heading an urban development authority.

A division bench of Chief Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice V.K. Sharma said that they were "of the considered opinion that all aspects of the matter should be inquired into by the vigilance department by an officer not below the rank of superintendent of police".

The court had said the "probe would also unravel involvement of officials concerned as well as other persons".