CBI asked to place closure report in Tughlakabad land grab case

New Delhi, July 31 (UNI) A special court today asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to place original documents related to the closure report filed by the agency in connection with the case related to unauthorised grabbing and sale of Government land near the Tughlakabad fort.

Special CBI judge B S Mathur asked the CBI to place the documents with regard to the closure of the case, filed on May 15, 2001 against 62 people, including officials of the Archaeological Survey of India, land and building department of the MCD, DDA and the Delhi Police who used their official positions and entered into a criminal conspiracy with private persons to grab Government land, causing wrongful gain to private parties and wrongful loss to Government.

These private persons sold the land by misrepresenting and suppressing the facts and cheated the people.

The land in question related to the Tughlakabad fort, which was declared a hostorical monument way back in 1914. In 1995, the area around the fort was declared a green belt area and the same year, 2661 bighas of land were transferred by the Government to the ASI for protecting and preserving the monument.

However, in 1997, 500 bighas of the land were under encroachment, a figure which rose to 928 bighas in 2000.

The CBI told the court that since different agencies were involved during long periods of encroachment, it was difficult to fix up a responsibility on any particular facts. It could not be ascertained as to which particular officials had abused their official positions, the CBI said.

The CBI has examined 154 people and some of the illegal occupants stated they had purchased land from the accused persons but the CBI could not obtain proof of sale or purchase of land.

The case had been tranferred to the CBI on May 15, 2001.

The CBI had filed a case against 2 ACPs and 6 SHOs of the Delhi Police and local MLA Sishpal under sections 120 b, 420, 447 of the IPC and 13(2) read with sections 13(1)(d) of the prevention of corruption act.

The court has fixed August 30 for consideration of the closure report.

UNI XC RL PC1927