HC notices to Raje, state govt in Deen Dayal Upadhyaya land case

Jaipur, May 12 (UNI) Rajasthan High Court has issued showcause notices to Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and the state government in the controversial Deen Dayal Upadhyaya land deal case.

A bench comprising Justices R M Lodha and R S Chauhan gave the orders yesterday on a PIL filed by petitioner S K Sharma.

The petition said the state government had alloted Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Charitable Trust 7693 sq metre prime land located in city's posh Civil Lines. The market price of the land is said to be Rs 11,250 per sq metre and thus the total land price comes to be Rs 8.65 crore. But the state government gave away land to the trust at a throwaway price of just Rs 562.50 per sq metre, getting Rs 43.27 lakh in return.Thus the state government suffered a loss of Rs 8.22 crore in the process.

The petition also questioned the formation of the trust and the legitimacy of the land alloted.

The High Court has asked Mrs Raje, Chief secretary and Jaipur Development Commissioner to file their replies by July 12.

UNI