CBI issues notices in the defence land scam

Initiating its probe into the alleged defence land scam here, CBI today issued notices to the Defence Estate Officer and a trust belonging to a royal family among others.
Defence Minister A K Antony had ordered a CBI probe on May 6 into the land scam involving transfer of a 4.84 acre army plot to Maharaja Harisingh Trust in 2007 by officials of the ministry and the service.
CBI issued notices to the Defence Estate Officer, Maharaja Harisingh Trust, army administration, district authorities and a coloniser seeking all documents pertaining to the land involved from them, sources said.
"CBI will check the procedures followed by the army while handing over the piece of land to the trust. Apart from that they will also probe the intentions behind the transferring of the land and the role of the officers," said a CBI source adding that "we will also check the revenue land records of the land available with the district administration".

Col S D Goswami, defence spokesperson, said that army has nominated an officer to coordinate between army and the CBI.
"We will provide all the documents related to this deal, as and when demanded by the CBI and will offer our full cooperation to the CBI in ascertaining the facts of the matter in order to reach the guilty," said Goswami.

The piece of land, located at the foothills of the Umaid Bhawan Palace, is now being developed as a residential colony and is worth Rs 15 crore, sources said.
According to the revenue records, it is government land but the certified revenue map of this land is not available.

It is alleged that the deal was done in violation of not just the defence ministry's Acquisition, Custody and Relinquishment of Military Lands in India (ACR) Rules. Also, it violates a 1997 government order which explicitely states that efence land cannot be transferred or leased out without approval of the Union Cabinet and no land can be declared private except through a court or government order.