Rs 100-cr land deal puts MP minister in dock

The disputed land adjoining Sugnidevi College in Pardeshipura had been leased to Dhanlaxmi Chemical Industries and could not have been sold,that too after changing land use,a complaint in the court of Special Judge (anti-corruption) S K Raghuvanshi alleged.

Mendola was a member of Indore Municipal Corporation’s mayor-in-council when Vijayvargiya was mayor.

In the last Assembly elections,the minister had staked his political career by shifting to a risky seat to make way for Mendola in Indore-2 seat,his pocketborough,after the party refused to field his tainted follower from anywhere else.

Congress veteran Suresh Seth,who filed the complaint,was a minister three decades ago and is well-versed with the matter since 1980 when the land was first given on a 30-year-lease to a company.

From the economic offences wing of the state government to the CM’s office,Seth filed several complaints highlighting the alleged irregularities in the deal before he finally approached the court.

The judge asked the Lokayukta to investigate the matter and submit a report within three months. The Lokayukta’s office submitted that since the complainant had also approached the EOW it would be better to know the progress the agency had made in the matter to avoid duplication and to arrive at contradictory reports.