Bhushans get two prime plots from Mayawati govt for a song
Ritu Sarin Posted online: Wed Apr 20 2011, 09:10 hrs
New Delhi : The political class may be evil and corrupt but that's
whom Shanti Bhushan and his son Jayant Bhushan turn to when they want
a farmhouse each — for a song.
In his declaration of assets last week, Shanti Bhushan, also
co-chairman of the drafting committee of the Lokpal Bill, mentioned a
10,000 sq m farmland plot in Noida.
What he did not mention was the discretionary manner in which the
Mayawati government, early this year, allotted this land to him and
another 10,000 sq m farmhouse plot to his lawyer son Jayant Bhushan.
And in what raises questions of conflict of interest, Jayant Bhushan
has appeared against Mayawati in the Noida statue park case.
Incidentally, discretionary land allotment by the government is a key
issue on the agenda of the Group of Ministers on corruption.
In fact, this allotment of Noida farmland is now the subject matter of
a case in the Allahabad High Court filed by another allottee, former
Additional Solicitor General Vikas Singh.
Calling for the cancellation of the allotments, he has alleged that he
was allotted the "worst" piece of farmland as "punishment" since he
had shot off several complaints on the "arbitrary" manner in which the
farmland was being allotted.
The cost of each farmhouse plot is Rs 3.5 crore and allottees had to
pay just 10% — Rs 35 lakh — at the time of allotment, the rest in 16
instalments. This is less than a quarter of the market rate, according
to Vikas Singh's petition.
When contacted, Shanti Bhushan told The Indian Express: "My son and I
were among the applicants and we were surprised when we got the
allotment letters. I agree there is no transparency in the scheme and
allotments have been made without any clear criterion. But why should
we challenge this? The people who applied and were not given the
farmland should challenge it. I have heard that bribes have passed
hands for these allotments but, obviously, not from us. There may be a
case for a scheme like this to be cancelled."
Sources said that while 64 "successful" applicants were selected by
Noida authorities for farmland in Sectors 126, 127, 128, 131 and 133
in the first lot, the Bhushans were among 27 "successful" candidates
who appeared for an interview and got plots in a second batch in
Sectors 162, 164, 165 and 167.
Under the scheme, called "Open ended scheme for development of
farmhouse on agricultural land", announced by the Noida authorities in
January 2009, applicants had to submit a detailed project report on
how the farmland would be used, approved by a chartered accountant,
and provide a balance sheet of their income of last three years along
with cash- flow estimates. They were also asked to appear for an
"interview" before members of a screening committee.
When contacted, S C Pabreja, AGM (Institutional) of the Noida
Authority told The Indian Express that the "screening committee"
included members of the Authority's Finance, Planning, Legal,
Projects, Institutional and Construction Departments.
Once the applicants were cleared by this Committee, they were called
for interviews. While Noida authorities had announced they would put
up a list of "successful' allottees on their website, this has not
been done.
The manner in which the farmland was allotted has been challenged in
court. On April 16, the Allahabad High Court heard a bunch of writ
petitions, including that of Vikas Singh. In his petition, Singh has
alleged that the "the Noida Authority is not justified in selling its
property at rates way below the market price and that too collecting
only 10% of the premium thereof and such action of the Noida Authority
in the matter of allotment of plots is clearly arbitrary and
unjustified..."
Singh has also alleged that the Noida Authority made the filling of
the application forms and the submission of financial papers
complicated to "increase the subjectivity of the plot allotment
committee in selecting or rejecting the application."
Another joint petition has been filed by two Delhi-based doctors,
Harsh Mahajan and Vinay Sabarwal, who have not been allotted the
farmland. They have claimed they were "better placed" than other
applicants.
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