SC grants time to UP govt to probe land scandal

New Delhi, July 11: The Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh today informed the Supreme Court that it was looking into the matter relating to fraudulent allotment of 28 plots in Gomati Nagar area of Lucknow at throwaway prices in 2004 by the then Chief Minister Mulayam Singh government.

Senior Counsel Dinesh Diwedi informed the bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran that state government needed more time to complete the investigation into the scandal and also indicated cancellation of the allotment by the new government.

The majority of beneficiaries of the scandal were close relatives of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and those of senior IAS officers.

The plots were allotted at throwaway price of Rs 1500 per sq meter, while the market value of the land was about Rs 30,000 per sq meter.

The apex court granted six weeks time to the state government to complete the probe and adjourned the matter by six weeks.

The petitioner Vishwanath Chaturvedi, a Congress activist, in his petition filed through his Counsel D K Garg had demanded a CBI inquiry into the scandal and had also prayed for cancellation of allotments as well as prosecution of those involved in the scam running into crores of rupees.

The petitioner also alleged that officers of Lucknow Development Authority had made allotments in violation of all rules and the top leaders of Samajwadi Party were involved in the scandal.

UNI