Monday, 16 May 2011

Govt urges HC to probe land deals


Shimla, May 16
With the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress trading charges on the issue of violations in land deals by outsiders, the state government has requested the High Court to spare a sitting judge to probe all benami land deals and essentiality certificates issued under the HP Apartment Act since its inception.
It was last week that Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu wrote a letter to Chief Justice Kurian Joseph through the Registrar General, urging him to ask a sitting judge of the High Court to look into each and every essentiality certificate issued to builders under the Apartment Act up to March 31, 2011.
“I have always been open to any kind of probe or inquiry into the issuance of essentiality certificates under the Apartment Act as well as any kind of benami land deals, so we have requested the Chief Justice to assign the task to a sitting judge of the High Court to enable an impartial probe,” said Chief Minister PK Dhumal.
The Chief Minister said he had already assured the Opposition members that he was open to any kind of probe to detect irregularities in issuance of essentiality certificates under the Apartment Act since it was made.
“The Speaker has already constituted a house committee to look into the matter and whatever are the recommendations, we will honour them,” he said. He added that the government would go by the recommendations of the committee with regard to the Apartment Act and if they feel it should be scrapped, the government had no problem whatsoever.
Sensing that the Congress would try to pin down the ruling BJP on the issue of benami land deals, he also said the government was willing to enquire into any complaint of benami land deals or irregularities in grant of permission under Section 118.
“We will enquire and take action into any such complaint by an organisation or any individual and also go to the extent of confiscating such illegally acquired properties,” he said.
The Congress had made the issuance of essentiality certificates under the Apartment Act and land transactions made in violation of Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act as a major issue during the Budget Session of the assembly. With assembly elections in the state due by the end of the next year, the Congress has been accusing the BJP regime of favouring private builders and allowing acquisition of huge chunks of land by private universities.

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