Jalandhar trust auctions chief’s house, SAD leader buys it

SAD leader Gurcharan Singh Channi paid Rs 2.08 crore for the 800 square yard property in Jalandhar.

Senior SAD leader Gurcharan Singh Channi bought the official residence of chairman of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust, which was auctioned by the trust on Tuesday. Channi paid Rs 2.08 crore for the 800 square yard property in Jalandhar. The cash-strapped JIT has begun putting its properties under the hammer, to clear debts worth several crores.

The official residence, in the upmarket Makhdumpura locality near Lajpat Nagar area, was among the 17 properties that came up at the auction but only 12 were sold. The trust managed to earn Rs 4.40 crore on Tuesday.

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Trust administrator Parneet Bhardwaj said the house of JIT chairman was sold as it had been lying unused. “We had chosen it for auction twice earlier but no bidder came. This time we were lucky to sell it,” he said.

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“The trust does not have much funds to clear its debt and moreover some of the properties were meant for auctioning, like the shops in the new localities,” said a senior JIT officer.

Sources said that JIT had to pay the debts taken for the development of colonies carved out by it in the past. Some opposition leaders said that such auctions by the government bodies are done for the benefit of the ruling party leaders.

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