Plot sizes were increased on govt order: probe

Preliminary findings of the probe into allotment of prime plots in New Delhi at reduced rates by the NDA government to RSS affiliates —...

Preliminary findings of the probe into allotment of prime plots in New Delhi at reduced rates by the NDA government to RSS affiliates — highlighted by The Indian Express through a series of investigative stories in 2002 — show that in some cases the size of the allotted land was substantially increased on government orders and these were listed as ‘‘amended allotments.’’

There are instances of land allotment being increased from 1.9 acre to 4 acre. All such allotments have been tagged by the one-man inquiry committee, appointed by the UPA government, and a file-by-file scrutiny is currently underway.

The Urban Development Ministry, which ordered the probe on September 15, has prepared for the probe committee an entire list of recommendations for allotments made by several NDA ministers.

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The Ministry appointed retired bureaucrat Yogesh Chandra, to probe ‘‘cases of allotment of land made by the Land and Development Office since 1998-99.’’

The committee was told to submit its report within two months and ‘‘recommend action in cases where deviations from the prescribed procedure and/or fulfilment of conditions of allotment are observed.’’

In 2002, The Indian Express reported that of the 209 institutional allotments made by the NDA government, 115 went to government departments but a majority of the remaining 94 were cornered by organisations linked to the RSS or BJP.

Chandra has been provided an office on the ground floor of Nirman Bhavan, the seat of the Urban Development Ministry.

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It’s learnt that files of some 240 allotments of institutional land have been sealed and are being scrutinised at the rate of 10 files a day.

The committee is taking a hard look at the parameters for change of land use — from residential to institutional — in areas like Rouse Avenue and Pushp Vihar.

Files on change of land use have also been ‘‘frozen’’.

It’s learnt that the gazette notification announcing the change was issued by the NDA government as late as Feburary this year.

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Ministry sources say that several parameters should have been taken into consideration before changing land use and carving out institutional plots.

For instance, traffic density near the plots as well as the proximity of Rouse Avenue to Supreme Court and other important institutions should have been taken into account.

Ritu Sarin

Ritu Sarin is Executive Editor (News and Investigations) at The Indian Express group. Her areas of specialisation include internal security, money laundering and corruption. Sarin is one of India’s most renowned reporters and has a career in journalism of over four decades. She is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) since 1999 and since early 2023, a member of its Board of Directors. She has also been a founder member of the ICIJ Network Committee (INC). She has, to begin with, alone, and later led teams which have worked on ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, the Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, the Uber Files and Deforestation Inc. She has conducted investigative journalism workshops and addressed investigative journalism conferences with a specialisation on collaborative journalism in several countries. ... Read More

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