Chandigarh, April 3 (NationPress) A trial court in Panchkula, Haryana, has dismissed the Enforcement Directorate’s complaint against Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a prominent Congress figure and former Chief Minister, alongside Associated Journals Ltd (AJL). This case pertains to the re-allotment of a land plot at historical rates in 2005, with AJL associated with notable Congress members Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

The Special Judge presiding over the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case, Rajeev Goyal, concluded that the ED's complaint was invalid since Hooda and AJL had already been cleared in the primary case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

On February 25, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had also cleared Hooda and AJL, with Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya asserting that the evidence presented failed to support a criminal trial, indicating that the prosecution did not demonstrate a prima facie case of “dishonest intention or wrongful gain.”

Justice Dahiya referenced a legal precedent set by the Supreme Court in the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary case, stating that an ED complaint cannot persist if the accused has been discharged in the original offence investigated by the CBI.

In response to the closure of the ED's complaint, Hooda’s attorney, S.P.S. Parmar, remarked to the press, “Given the recent ruling from the Supreme Court, the ED's allegation cannot hold since the individuals have been cleared in the foundational CBI case.”

Hooda had been charged by the CBI with corruption and cheating regarding the land re-allotment to AJL, which is under the leadership of Vora.

During his tenure as Chief Minister from 2005 to 2014, Hooda was also the Chairman of the Haryana Urban Development Authority when the plot was re-allotted.

He, along with AJL officials—promoters of the National Herald newspaper—faced accusations concerning the unlawful re-allotment of the land in 2005.

The parcel, designated C-17 in Sector 6, Panchkula, spans approximately 3,360 square metres and was re-allotted to AJL on June 29, 2005.

The land had initially been allocated to AJL in 1982 but was reclaimed in 1996 due to the company's failure to construct a building on the site.

Hooda defended his actions by asserting that the re-allotment was free of any illegality. Following the land's re-allotment, AJL successfully constructed a building on the premises.

In 2016, after a change in the state government, the CBI initiated an FIR claiming the plot's true market value was around Rs 65 crore, alleging that the re-allotment ignored bureaucratic recommendations.