haryana real estate

JAPANABEPLOMACY

JEFF KINGSTONp76

MG D

EVASAHAYAM

RACE FOR PM p6

8

February 10, 2014 `VOL. 7, ISSUE 11

gfilesindia.com

PETITION IN PUBLIC INTEREST SUBMITTED TO THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT BY GFILES REGARDING THE GREAT LAND ROBBERY IN HARYANA. HOW HOODA ALONG WITH HIS CRONIES PLUNDERED HARYANA IN HIS 9 YEARS OF RULE. p10

Kunal BhadooHooda’s son-in-law

Venod SharmaCongress MLA, Ambala

Arvind WaliaOwner, Ramprastha

Anil BhallaOwner, Vatika Builders

Sameer GehlautOwner, Indiabulls

Kabul ChawlaOwner, BPTP

KP SinghOwner, DLF

De facto Chief Ministers?

Haryana’s

www.gfilesindia.com12 gfiles inside the governmentvol. 7, issue 11 | February 2014

PETITION IN PUBLIC INTERESTharyana real estatereal estate

A Petition In The Public Interest

W.P No……..of 2014

THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA, NEW DELHI

(Extraordinary Writ Jurisdiction)In the matter of:gfiles : A magazine on governance (Regd.No.DL Eng/2007/19719)118, IInd Floor, DDA Site-I,New Rajinder Nagar, New Delhi – 110060 …. Petitioner

VERSUS1. Bhupinder Singh Hooda,

Chief Minister of Haryana

2. Secretary, Ministry of FinanceDepartment of RevenueRoom No. 46, North BlockNew Delhi - 110 001

3. Ministry of Environment & ForestsGovernment of IndiaParyavaran BhavanCGO Complex, Lodhi RoadNew Delhi-110003

4. Ministry of Urban DevelopmentGovernment of IndiaThrough: National Capital Region PlanningBoard, Core-IV B, First FloorIndia Habitat Centre, Lodhi RoadNew Delhi-110003

5. Department of Town & Country Planning& Urban EstateGovernment of Haryana4th Floor, Haryana Civil secretariatChandigarh

6. Department of LabourGovernment of Haryana, 30 Bays Building, Sector 17, Chandigarh - 160017

7. Ministry of Forests & EnvironmentGovernment of HaryanaRoom No. 34, 8th FloorHaryana Civil SecretariatChandigarh

……..Respondents

13www.indianbuzz.comgfiles inside the government

vol. 7, issue 11 | February 2014

(Any other Ministry, Departments, organisations and individuals as will be deemed just and appropriate to be made as parties with the permission of this Hon’ble Court)

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:

Court by way of the present writ petition for public interest by invoking the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of this Hon’ble Court with a prayer, as mentioned in the prayer clause, to decide once and for all whether people sitting in the government, or in other words, State can arbitrarily decide the use of land resources, especially in view of the fact that mass scale favouritism and misuse of land to benefit a handful of powerful coterie and that too in flagrant violation of all existing environmental and other laws, rules and regulations made therein to protect the control of land uses and to avoid any haphazard development of land and ecological disturbances and for matters connected therewith.

respect seem to have no effect on the present day Haryana Government. In one of the much discussed judgements, the Hon’ble Justice GS Singhvi held that: The framers of the Constitution and the representative of the people who were responsible for introducing Part IV-A enacted the above provisions with a fond hope that every citizen will honestly play his role in building of a homogeneous society in which every Indian will be able to live with dignity without having to bother about the basics, like food, clothing, shelter, education,

medical aid, and the nation will constantly march forward and will take its place of pride in the comity of nations. However, what has happened during the last few decades is sufficient to shatter those hopes. The gap between ‘haves’ and ‘haves-not’ of the society, which existed even in pre-Independent India, has widened to such an extent that bridging it appears to be an impossibility. A new creed of people (haves) has come into existence. Those belonging to this category have developed a new value system which is totally incompatible with the values and ideals cherished by the Indian society for centuries together. They have grabbed power, political and apolitical, and have successfully used the public institutions to subserve their ends. The system of quotas, licences, permits, etc., has been used and misused by them for increasing their material wealth. Their actions have created an atmosphere of diffidence in all walks of life. The common man has started feeling that this new creed of people, who believe in grabbing whatever comes its way, is unstoppable and the law will also become its servant because quite a few people belonging to this class are creators and administrators of law. However, it appears that every thing is not lost. The third organ of the State, whose primary duty has been to interpret the Constitution and the provisions of law and to adjudicate

Haryana Government’s Labour Department turns a blind eye to lack of safety norms for workers (above); new housing colonies are being built but without water supply (left)

PPI contd. on next page



the disputes between the individual (s) and the State and between individuals inter se, or groups of individual, has been forced by the people and the circumstances to take steps to uphold the majesty of law and the authority of the Constitution.

Secretary, JDA vs Daulat Mal Jain, JTy, , 1996(8) SC 387, the Apex Court had the occasion to examine allotment of lands to the respondents by the Minister and the committee headed by the Minister. Some of the observations made in that decision are quite relevant in the context of the present case and are therefore, quoted below:

“... The Minister holds public office though he gets constitutional status and performs functions under constitution, law executive policy. The acts done and duties performed are public acts or duties as holding of the public office. Therefore, he owes certain accountability for the acts done or duties performed. In a democratic society governed by rule of law, power is conferred on the holder of the public office or the concerned authority by the Constitution by

virtue of appointment. The holder of the office, therefore, gets opportunity to abuse or misuse theoffice. The politician who holds public office must perform public duties with the sense of purpose, anda sense of direction, under rules or sense of priorities.The purpose must be genuine in a free democratic society governed by the rule of law to further socio-economic democracy. The executive Government should frame its policies to maintain the social order, stability, progress and morality. All actions of theGovernment are performed through/by individual persons in collective or joint or individual capacity. Therefore, they should morally be responsible fortheir actions.... The Minister is responsible not only for his actions but also for the job of the bureaucrats who work or have worked under him. He owes the responsibility to the electors for all his actions taken in the name of the Governor in relation to the Department of which he is the Head. If the Minister,in fact, is responsible for all the detailed working of his Department, then clearly ministerial responsibility must cover a wider spectrum than mere moral responsibility; for no minister canpossibly get acquainted with; all the detailed Haphazard construction has created havoc all around



decisions involved in the working of hisDepartment.... The so-called public policy cannot bea camouflage for abuse of the power and trustentrusted with a public authority or public servantfor the performance of public duties. Misuse impliesdoing of something improper. The essence of impropriety is replacement of a public motive for aprivate one. When satisfaction sought in theperformance of duties is for mutual personal gain,the misuse is usually termed as corruption. Theholder of a public office is said to have misused hisposition when in pursuit of a private satisfaction, asdistinguished from public interest, he has donesomething which he ought not to have done. Themost elementary qualification demanded of aMinister is honesty and incorruptibility. He shouldnot only possess these qualifications but should alsoappear to possess the same.”

well known, has been rapidly converted into jungle of concrete, taking a heavy toll on existing flora and faunaof the State and damaging its reputation of being thefood bowl of the country.

his tenure, kept all the important departmentsrelating to land and urban development under hiscontrol with the sole motive of taking unilateraldecisions regarding sale and allotment of land to a select

few favourite individuals and groups, turning thembillionaires overnight at the cost of poor Haryanvis.

changed, altered or modified with the motive of favouring a select group of builders close to the Chief Minister and its coterie, benefiting both with completedisregard to systemic planning and the basic laws of equity. So much so that three Master Plans were createdin haste, including Master Plan 2031, assuming that thesame government will continue for decades to come.

politicians and others to seek political and other favoursi.e. Quid pro quo.

changed midway to safeguard commercial interest of some favoured builders with complete disregard to thecost and loss of revenue to the State exchequer.

Government are allegedly influenced by a selectcoterie, comprising of influential politicians, buildersand business mafia, including Venod Sharma, KunalBhadoo, Arvind Walia, Anil Sharma, Kabul Chawla andSameer Gehlaut.

Most favoured, BPTP’s gateway to billions




Men in shadows: Those who pull the

political stringsby NEERAJ MAHAJAN

I would be difficult to imagine evena legend like Sachin Tendulkarsingle-handedly batting, bowling

and keeping the field all by himself.Likewise, try as much as she might,singing sensation Lata Mangeshkartoo would find it difficult to writethe lyrics, compose, direct the music,coordinate, sing and play all the

musical instruments all by herself. Itis next to impossible to imagine thatHaryana Chief Minister BhupinderSingh Hooda is managing the wholeshow all by himself.

As far as taking important decisionsand deciding the policy on real estate isconcerned, Hooda allegedly dependson his son-in-law Kunal Bhadoo, DLFstrongman KP Singh, former Unionminister Venod Sharma, entrepre-

neur Jawahar Goel (Dish TV, EsselGroup of Companies), Kabul Chawla(promoter of BPTP), Arvind Walia(Director, Ramprastha Group), SushilAnsal (Promoter of Ansal Group),Sameer Gehlaut (Indiabulls) as wellas Anil and Gautam Bhalla of VatikaLtd. Call it a high-power committee,think-tank or a more informal kitchencabinet, they are the ones who alleged-ly decide most actions concerning the



real estate sector in the State. In otherwords, one may say that these are thepeople who are allegedly helping, rath-er driving, Hooda to ruin Haryana.

APART from them, IAS officers like the on-deputation 1996 AAbatch Karnataka cadre IAS AA

officer Rajender Kumar Kataria, the son-in-law of Haryana Congress pres-ident Phool Chand Mullana, former Haryana additional advocate general and advocate Sunil Parti, hotelier Kewal Dhingra and foot soldiers like Hooda’s officer on special duty, M S Chopra, fill in the blanks.

A former Army Officer, Kushal Pal Singh, the son-in-law of DLF Group founder, is allegedly a master in the art of give and take and political arm-twisting for strategic business

GURGAON-MANESAR URBAN COMPLEXLand use Master plan

2021

Area in

hectares

Master plan

2025

Area in

hectares

Master plan

2031

Area in

hectares

Residential 14,930 15,148 16,010

Commercial 1,404 1,429 1,616

Industrial 5,441 5,431 4,613

Transport and

communication

4,231 4,289 4,420

Public utilities 564 609 626

Institutional Public

and semi-public use

1,630 1,775 2,035

Open spaces 2,675 2,688 2,775

Special zone 106 106 114

Defence land 633 633 633

Total land 31,614 32,108 32,842

Special Economic Zone 4,570 4,570

Existing town 406 406 406

Village abadis 428 428 478

Grand total 37,069 37,512 33,726

Source: Town and Country Planning, Haryana

MNC offices on Delhi-Jaipur highway are edifices to lureinnocent customers




THE biggest beneficiary of the Hooda rule is noneother than Business Park Town Planners Limited, alsoknown as BPTP, promoted by Kabul Chawla, Punam

(mother of Kabul Chawla) and Anjali Chawla (wife of KabulChawla). Incorporated under the Companies Act on August11, 2003, BPTP has a number of companies, like CountrywidePromoters Pvt Ltd, Countrywide Home and Farms Pvt Ltd,Glitz Builders & Promoters Pvt Ltd, Foliage ConstructionPvt Ltd, Five Star Promoters Pvt Ltd, Vital ConstructionPvt Ltd, Native Buildcon Pvt Ltd, Green Valley Towers PvtLtd, Anupam Towers Pvt Ltd, Sunglow Overseas Pvt Ltd,Druzba Overseas Pvt Ltd, Business Park Promoters Pvt Ltd,Fragrance Construction Pvt Ltd, KA Promoters & DevelopersPvt Ltd, Westland Developers Pvt Ltd, Poonam Promoters &Developers Pvt Ltd and Vasundra Promoters Pvt Ltd.

BPTP was an unknown and insignificant player till2005. After Hooda became the Chief Minister, its fortuneschanged, almost overnight in 2005, and the company startedaggressively staking claim over prime land in and aroundFaridabad. In just three years, it had acquired licensesto develop 283.88 acres land at unheard of rock bottomprices—`210 per sq ft—in Faridabad. The company starting selling the first of its plots in 2006 and by 2009 it had soldapproximately 5,657 residential plots, 10,685 apartments,463 commercial plots and other commercial space.

In January 2009, when the Hooda Government permittedregistration of independent floors on residential plots,BPTP took full advantage and re-aligned its business fromplotted housing to independent floors. This proved to be

a bestselling offer as almost all the 4,997 three bedroomunits in its newly launched ‘Park Elite Floors’ were soldout in five months—between May and September 2009.Even the 2nd phase of Park Elite Floors was sold bySeptember 30, 2009, and BPTP was able to mop up nearly`2.41 billion from the market.

Today, with licenses for close to 1,606 acre land in

The BPTP and DLF saga

advantage. He knows how to subtly manage his strengths and weaknesses and gain business mileage. This is the least you can expect from a man who managed to leverage a chance meeting with Rajiv Gandhi to gain virtual monopoly in Gurgaon. At least, you can say, he was shrewd and bold enough to move in an unchartered direction. Not many would have dared to do what he did… even today he is mentally just as sharp in spotting an opportunity and going all out to grab it as if there is going to be no tomorrow.

WITHIN the group, apart from son-in-law Kunal Bhadoo, Hooda depends most on the

controversial Congress leader from Chandigarh, Venod Sharma, known for his troubleshooting and negotiat-ing skills. A former Union and State minister, Sharma had to quit the Power Ministry after embarrassing public disclosures about him trying to bribe three witnesses in the Jessica Lal case, in which his son Manu Sharma was the key accused. Even though Venod Sharma, who is also related to

Haryana assembly speaker Kuldeep Sharma (his daughter Aishwarya is married to Venod Sharma’s youngest son Kartikeya), seemingly remained out of the power circuit, he is one of those who challenge their luck to the limit. That is why despite being out of power, he enjoys such clout that in informal conversations he is report-edly referred to as “Mr 10 Crore” in real estate circles. The reason is fairly obvious—no big land deal is possible in the State without his direct or indi-rect involvement.

Two to tango: The BPTP couple



Faridabad and Gurgaon, Countrywide Promoters, or BPTP, is way ahead of even Ansal Properties & Infrastructure (1,360 acres), or DLF (939 acres). It is so powerful that it virtually runs a parallel government, at least as far as Faridabad and Gurgaon are concerned. No government official reportedly dares to come in its way. Some say Hooda himself is a benami owner iin the company, which is currently developing 24 group housing, IT and residential projects in Faridabad and Gurgaon.

The company’s biggest strength is that the average cost of its land reserve is as low as `188 per sq ft. This allows it to sell properties at relatively attractive prices and, in fact, is the reason behind its phenomenal success in a relatively short time-span. Such is BPTP’s clout that despite a com-plaint by the owner of a 14.793 acres land in Sector 106 in Gurgaon to the Haryana TCP not to issue the license till the agreed sale price was paid, the TCP department not only awarded but also renewed the licenses despite the fact that BPTP still does not have possession of the land, or has begun any construction activity.

One of the first developers to focus on Faridabad, Countrywide Promoters has the ability to identify suitable land, acquire and consolidate it. This role is played by an in-house research team of 30 personnel that gathers market data, assesses the potential of a location, and evaluates its demographic profile as well as government schemes and incentives, as applicable.

DLF holds the largest land bank of 10,255 acres (42 sq km), including 3,000 acres (12 sq km) that has been developed and 1,000 acres under development in Gurgaon. DLF Limited is the largest commercial real estate developer in India by revenue, profit, and market share. DLF is so powerful that no government in Haryana can chose to ignore it. Whatever it wants is reportedly given.

gfiles investigations reveal that all almost all propos-als for grant of licenses are directly approved by the Chief Minister himself, often overruling senior officials to benefit a particular builder. Significantly, within two years of hischief ministership, on December 19, 2006, Hooda changed the policy for grant of license and change of land use withretrospective effect—from June 7, 2005. By specifically stat-ing that “the licenses shall be granted/refused by the DTCP with prior internal concurrence of the State Government at the Minister’s Level”, this ensured that Hooda—who was the housing minister as well as Chairman TCP and HUDA—was the ultimate authority to sanction or deny a license. Even if the Director, Town Planning, wanted to grant or denya license, he needed to get the Chief Minister’s concurrence.

This, in effect, sealed the fate of all cooperatives housing, giving a free hand to group housing societies and builders. This policy also relaxed the norms for change of land use and discontinued grant of licenses for cooperative housing societies, even in low potential zones.

KP Singh

One of the richest politicians in the state, Sharma’s `500-crore empire consists of Piccadily Group of Industries, 4-star Piccadily Hotel in Sector 22, Blue Ice bar in Sector 17, chain of hotels, restaurants, cinema theatre, sugar mills, distilleries like Piccadily Sugar Industries, Piccadily Agro Industries, Shakti Fibres,Piccadily Holiday Resorts and Lyons Restaurant, besides a number of com-mercial and residential properties in Chandigarh.

He has big stakes in the liquor trade

in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and UttarPradesh. It is alleged that Hooda is ashareholder in Sharma’s hotels, sugarand construction business.

SON of liquor baron and one-time President of PunjabPradesh Congress Committee,

Kidarnath Sharma, Venod Sharmahas a good network in the Brahmin,Aggarwal, Rajput and Punjabi com-munities in Haryana. Hooda has many reasons to rely on his school-timefriend. As the head of the 40-mem-

ber election campaign committee,Sharma’s backroom organising skillshelped Hooda muster the supportof 53 members in the 90-memberhouse when the Congress had just40 members in the last elections.Sharma always stood by him—evenwhen Hooda was an aspiring politi-cian from Rohtak. On his part, Hoodatoo lobbied to get Sharma the AmbalaAssembly ticket when he was a politi-cal untouchable after the Jessica Lalmurder case.




SHARMA, who began his politi-cal career as general secre-tary of Chandigarh Congress

Committee, lost no time in becom-ing Sanjay Gandhi’s blue-eyed boy,general secretary of All India YouthCongress under Ghulam Nabi Azad’sleadership, MLA, MP and Union min-ister—all within one decade. There wasa time when even as a first-time MLA,he was treated as virtual No. 2 and themost resourceful State cabinet minis-

ter—more powerful than even Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan, athree-time MLA. Sharma’s youngestson Kartikeya heads Information TV Pvt Ltd, which controls News X tel-evision channel, Good Morning IndiaMedia Pvt Ltd and Aaj Samaj group of newspapers.

It is alleged that any builder whowants any new license, or any con-cession, from Hooda has to neces-sarily go through Sharma. Sharma’s

own interests in real estate are takencare of through a string of compa-nies like Onkareshwar PropertiesPrivate Limited, Mark BuildtechProperties Private Limited, ShivamInfotech Private Limited and PegasusDevelopers Shikhopur Pvt Ltd.Kartikeya is on the Board of Director’sand reportedly owns 99 per centshares in Mark Buildtech, which hasbusiness dealings with OnkareshwarProperties. The two, incidentally,

GREAT HARYANA LAND USE CONVERSION CIRCUS

Area Up to 30 Sq Metre Area Over 30 Sq Metre

Old Rate New Rate Old Rate New Rate

Gurgaon `14,000 `3,000 `16,000 `3,500

Faridabad `7,200 `1,500 `9,200 `2,000

Sonepat `6,000 `1,000 `7,500 `1,200

Panipat `6,000 `1,000 `7,500 `1,200

Panchkula `7,200 `1,500 `9,200 `2,000

Kabul ChawlaKunal BhadooVenod Sharma

Arvind WaliaAnil BhallaSameer GehlautKP Singh

THE ‘H’ COMPANY



are registered at the same address in Nehru Place. Sushil Gupta, one of the Directors of Onkareshwar Properties, is a close aide of Hooda; Harvinder Singh Chopra, a Director in Mark Buildtech, is also Finance Director of Piccadily Group; while Rajender Bansal, a friend of Sharma from Panchkula, is on the Board of Directors of both the companies. The other directors include Dhirender Dadwal and Tarun Bhanot, a rela-tive of Sharma. Mark Buildtech alleg-edly has strong business linkages with Vatika Ltd promoted by Anil and Gautam Bhalla, who seemingly has prospered from the association. In fact, after the Haryana government granted three land licenses to Vatika group, the group’s assets skyrocketed unimaginably in three years.

IF it is not Sharma, another personwho can come up with miraclesand has direct access to the CM is

Kunal Bhadoo, the prodigal son of Vijay Laxmi Bhadoo, a senior SAD-BJP leader in Punjab. He is married toHooda’s daughter Anjali. A Masters inInternational Accounting and Financefrom London School of Economicsand qualified Chartered Accountantfrom ICAEW, UK, he worked for sixyears in London for PwC LLP beforecoming back to India in 2006 to startKunskapsskolan Eduventures India,which runs three K-12 schools in

Jaipur, Karnal and Abohar. Kunal isalso Director of Havelock DevelopersPvt Ltd, Bhadoo Agritech at Abohar,which is into contract processingand packaging of citrus fruits andfresh vegetables, Navyug Group of Companies, Navyug Eduventures and

Satellite Forging Pvt Ltd, a joint ven-ture with the JBM Group.

He is alleged to be an unofficialmember of Hooda’s kitchen cabinetalong with his mother-in-law, AshaHooda; brother-in-law Deepinder

Top 33 Most Benefitted Builders of Hooda Regime

S.No. Promoters/ Builders Land License Obtained in Acres

1 Countrywide Promoters 1606

2 Ansal Properties & Infrastructure 1360

3 DLF New Gurgaon Home Developers 939

4 Intime Promoters (TDI) 867

5 Omaxe Housing & Developers 866

6 Unitech 725

7 Vatika Land Base 632

8 Parshavnath Developers 603

9 Emaar MGF Land 531

10 IREO KSS Properties 519

11 Sonika 399

12 Chintals India 396

13 AN Buildwell 315

14 Bestech India 297

15 Uddar Gagan 291

16 Reliance Haryana SEZ 251

17 Rangoli Projects 242

18 India Bulls Estates 222

19 Vipul Infrastructure Developers 216

20 Dwarkadhis Buildwell 209

21 Raheja Developers 195

22 Ramprastha Buildwell 189

23 Pioneer Urban Land & Infrastructure 177

24 Herman Fin Properties 154

25 Grandeur Real Estate 145

26 Uppal Housing 142

27 Jai Krishna Artec JV 123

28 Mapsco Buildwell 120

29 Parveen Gupta, Vipin Gupta 118

30 ERA Infrastructure 118

31 Martial Buildcon 117

32 Desert Moon Realtors Pvt. Ltd. 110

33 Orris Infrastructure 108

It is alleged that any builder who wants any

new license, or any concession, from Hooda

has to necessarily go through Venod Sharma,

Congress leader from Chandigarh




The Dwarka-Gurgaon Expressway: Where it starts and ends, nobody knows!

The arbitrary and ad-hoc manner in which

decisions are taken or altered in Hooda’s

tenure can be judged from just two examples: the Dwarka Expressway

and the Northern Express Road

Hooda and Venod Sharma. They are virtually running a parallel government in Haryana which has a say in everything—from selection, transfer and postings of candidates to ‘interviews’ conducted by departmental committees to grant licenses to favourite builders.

AS per market intelligence gath-ered from buyers, sellers andAAbrokers, these days Bhadoo isAA

allegedly on a buying spree in Sector70 and 70A, just outside the MasterPlan areas, along the SouthernPeripheral road. According toinformed sources, unwritten ordersare that anyone else who tries tobuy lands in this area should be

discouraged. In all probability, thisarea will be included in anotherrevised or extended Master Plan justbefore the elections. The price shootsup at least 50 times when it getsincluded in the Master Plan.

One of the features of the MasterPlan 2031, that has escaped attention,is a restriction that only 20 per centof the total area can be taken up

by Group Housing Societies in aparticular sector. This has openedup scope for discretionary licenses,or refusal, on the plea that thequota has been exceeded. Anotherfeature of the Master Plan was toincrease population density figuresin specific zones from 250-300people per hectare to over 1,000people per hectare. This has openedup floodgates for manipulation by the politician-builder network. TheHaryana government is also likely tocome up with a new scheme of one-acre farmhouses or country homesoutside the Master Plan areas inGurgaon, Sohna and other partsof Haryana. That will be anotheropportunity to make a fast buck forbuilders/developers and brokers.Already many people have startedbuying huge tracts of land for thepurpose. Whenever they get struck,



LEGACY OF 12 CMs & PRESIDENT’S RULE

I the last 23 years, Haryana has seen 12 CMs and one President’s Rule. Except for Chaudhary Devi Lal, Banarsi Das Gupta and Om Prakash Chautala

(in the initial stages), all others favoured one or the other builder. The biggest example of politi-cal favouritism is the DLF, which is what it is today allegedly because of the patronage given by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Bhajan Lal was the Chief Minister for close to five years from January 22, 1980. He was clearly in favour of the DLF, which managed to get 40 licenses for some 1,123 acres of land, largely in Gurgaon. Such was DLF’s monopoly that Ansal Properties & Infrastructure, its nearest rival, could just man-age a toe-hold with 11 licenses for 442-acre land. Apart from these two, all the seven others who managed to get licenses from Bhajan Lal were insignificant players.

As soon as Bansi Lal became the Chief Minister on July 5, 1985, the wind started blowing in the opposite direc-tion and Ansal Properties & Infrastructure became the hot favourite, bagging the maximum licenses, followed by DLF. Another significant contribution of Bansi Lal was the limited entry of Unitech and Utility builders.

However, when Chaudhary Devi Lal became the Chief Minister on July 17, 1987, not a single license was granted to any developer. This tradition was maintained even when his son Om Prakash Chautala remained the Chief Minister from Dec 2, 1989, to May 22, 1990.

However, Dec 2, 1989—the last day of Devi Lal’s regime and first day of Om Prakash Chautala—would go down in the history of Haryana. On that single day, eight licenses were approved: DLF Universal (5) in Gurgaon Sectors 24, 25, 25A, 27, 28 and 43; Ansal (2) Gurgaon Sectors 1, 2, 3, 17 and Unitech (1) Gurgaon Sectors 30, 40, 41. It may be well worth investigating who sanctioned these licenses on a single date and why. More so, when no license was allotted two years before or two years after that date!

After Chautala, Banarsi Das Gupta was the Chief Minister from May 22, 1990, to July 12, 1990, and Chautala again from July 12, 1990, to July 17, 1990. But, no license was given in this period.

The jinx was broken when Hukam Singh, who was the

Chief Minister from July 17, 1990, to March 21, 1991, issuedlicenses for the National Media Centre (21 acres) and toDurga Builder (127 acre).

Om Prakash Chautala became the Chief Ministeragain—from March 22, 1991, to April 6, 1991—and did notissue any license during his term. After this, there wasPresident's Rule in the State from April 6, 1991, to July 23,1991. Again, no licenses were issued in the period.

However, in the following five years of Bhajan Lal’sChief Ministership—July 23, 1991, to May 9, 1996—60licenses were given. Those who benefitted included,DLF (641 acres), Ansals (258 acres), Unitech (309 acres)and others.

In the next three years—May 11, 1996, to July 23, 1999—Bansi Lal tried to match the record by sanctioning 39 pro-jects over 793 acres of land in Gurgaon. Though Ansal wasthe favourite, DLF and others too were granted licenses.

In his new term, from July 24, 1999, to March 4, 2005, OmPrakash Chautala was a changed person and sanctioned35 projects in Gurgaon over 463 acres of land.

Banarsi Das Gupta

Bhajan lal

Hukum Singh

Bansi Lal

Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Om Prakash Chautala

Bhagwat Dayal Sharma

Devi Lal




they approach someone like Bhadoo, who can’t say no to favours from builders. Here are a few examples:

Hooda fiddles, Haryana burns

EVER since he became Chief RMinister of Haryana on March 5, 2005; Hooda has retained all the

important administrative portfolios like Justice Administration, Law and Legislative, General Administration, Administrative Reforms, Home, Information, Public Relations and Personnel and Training with him. But his first love is urban develop-ment. This is clear from the manner in which he has retained all associ-ated portfolios like Architecture, Panchayat Development, Town and Country Planning and Urban Estates and Urban Local Bodies. He is also the Chairman of the Town & Country

Planning (TCP), Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC). This gives him complete control over all land deals in the State. In fact, he is referred to as ‘Haryana Overall

Development Authority’.In 2005, when Hooda first became

CM, he had 67 seats in the 90-mem-ber assembly. Every third MLA in the State was a Congressman. As a result, if a minister dared to step out of line, he was firmly told to behave. But today, with just 40 MLAs, to run the government at the mercy of inde-pendents is a big challenge. Hence, to keep the prominent politicians happy, Hooda tried to ‘gift’ HUDA residential plots to 79 present and former Haryana MPs and MLAs at Mansa Devi Complex, Panchkula at a throwaway price of `28 lakh each. These plots were worth at least `1.5 crore in the open market. The ben-eficiaries included his son Deepender Singh Hooda besides Kumari Selja, Venod Sharma, Kiran Chaudhary, Navin Jindal, Raghuveer Kadian,

SOON after coming to power,one of the first PR exerciseof Hooda Government was to

drastically reduce the compound-ing, or conversion, fee for commer-cial properties. This populist movewas aimed at gaining the goodwillof lakhs of building bylaws violatorsand those running business and com-mercial establishments from residen-tial premises. Such persons now justhad to pay `3,500, instead of ̀ 16,000per square yard, for regularising theirbuildings along 30-metre roads inGurgaon. Likewise, those in build-ings along roads up to 30 metres hadto pay `3,000, against `14,000 persquare yard previously. Even peo-ple in small towns like Faridabad,Panchkula, Panipat, Sonepat, Karnal,Kurukshetra, Ambala, Yamunanagar,Bahadurgarh, Hissar, Rohtak, Palwal,

UNLAWFUL ACTS IN HOODA ERAHodal, Rewari and Sohna were givenmassive concessions. For instance,in Faridabad, the charges for build-ings along more than 30-metre roads,were lowered from `9,200 to `2,000per square yard. While the official pleawas that conversion charges wouldimprove the financial position of urbanlocal bodies, no one can deny that thiswas actually a reward to the violatorsof law.

A detailed analysis of Hooda gov-ernment’s policies reveals how arbi-trarily policies were drafted, modifiedand backdated to favour builders andindividuals. For instance, a policy forrelease of land from acquisition (SeeBox) was modified within 26 days of being formulated in 2007. Once again,it was modified in 2011. Likewise, policydated December 20, 2006, concerning group of persons, needed reconsid-

eration within four months on April 24,2007. Also, no explanation was offeredwhy many of these polices needed tobe backdated by over a year? A deeperprobe may unearth many a skeletons inHooda’s cupboard.

One of the first significant changesHooda brought about on April 24,2007, was an amendment of an exist-ing policy laid down by his governmenton December 20, 2006. Interestingly,this new policy, re-defined ‘ReputedColoniser’ as someone “who has alreadyobtained a license under the HaryanaDevelopment and Regulation of UrbanAreas Act, 1975, by the Haryana Townand Country Planning Department(TCP)”. This policy allowed backdoorentry to those private developers, whowere applying for the first time. Theywere given the option to sign a col-laboration agreement with a group of

In Rohtak, Hooda’s home district, a clique of Sharad

Farms and Holdings, Sonika Properties and

Uddar Gagan Properties—all three subsidiaries of the consortium formed by Zee TV’s Essel Group, Action

Group and Odeon Builders—has acquired

almost 637 acres



Dwarka-Gurgaon Expressway: The ugly reality of a ‘beautiful’ highway

Randeep Surjewala, Phool ChandMulana, Captain Ajay Singh Yadav,Chander Mohan, Hansraj Bhardwajand Shamsher Singh Surjewala. They would all have been richer by a few crore rupees, but for a last minutehurdle created by the Punjab andHaryana High Court. A division bench,comprising Chief Justice Tirath SinghThakur and Justice Mahesh Grover,cancelled the arbitrary allotmentsand the MPs and MLAs were left highand dry.

SIMILARLY, the High Court quashed the “illegal release of land” to RN Prasher, IAS,

a former finance commissioner and principal secretary, employed as principal adviser to CM after retirement. Describing this as a

persons licensed by the department to qualify to be called ‘Reputed Coloniser’.

Curiously, a ticklish policy—dated March 27, 2008—decided to give one-time relaxation to private schools, whose applications were pending with the Education Department for want of recognition. The question is, how can the TCP Department provide legiti-macy to private schools yet to be rec-ognised by the Education Department? Obviously this was done as a favour.

Significantly, the policy regarding grant of license to Cooperative Housing Societies, dated September 15, 2008, states that application of only those Cooperative House Building Societies, which have any collaboration with builders/developers having financial capacity and technical expertise to develop residential colonies, will be considered for a license. This gave an unfair advantage to the builders, with-

out whose involvement Cooperative House Building Societies cannot even apply for a license.

The manner in which HUDA didaway with the upper time limit to complete the construction work, smacks of a sell-out to the builder lobby. Earlier, allottees could under-take construction on a residential or commercial plot within two years. Now, an extension of up to 13 years is possible after payment of a fee and the allottee can take 15 years (2+13 years) for construction from the date of possession. This new policy, that came into effect from April 12, 2013, is nothing but a ploy to renew the licenses of non-performing builders.

The Haryana government has also not used over `10,000-crore EDC for creation of basic amenities collected from the end-consumers through the builders in the last five years.




Despotic Hooda (March 2005-2014) Questionable Pro-Builder Policies of Haryana Government

Date Name of policy Salient initiative Beneficiary / Analysis

09.06.2006 License for land pockets

owned by individuals

forming part of or

adjoining existing

licensed colonies.

The only condition is that such land locked pockets

should not be more than 10% of the licensed area

granted to the developer.

Land acquisition policy of Haryana

Government is based on ‘sectoral develop-

ment’ approach. In case a private developer,

who has been granted a license to develop a

project, is not able to acquire some pockets of

land in between or on the fringes of the

licensed area (“land locked pockets”), HUDA

steps in to acquire such land locked pockets

on behalf of private developer. BENEFICIARY:

BPTP—was facing problem due to certain

land locked pockets in Project Parklands—integrated township, so HUDA took over the

land locked pockets and transferred it to

them for development of the area.

19.12.2006 Policy for grant of

license and change of

land use

Came into effect with

retrospective effect

from 7 June, 2005

After careful consideration of the matter the Governor

of Haryana is pleased to convey the policy parameters

relating to the grant of license and permission for

change of land use as under :-

1. Competent Authority to grant licenses: The licens-

es shall be granted/ refused by the DTCP with prior g y p

internal concurrence of the State Government at

Minister’s Level. The State Government will how-

ever, exercise appellate powers under the Act.

2. Minimum area for grant of licenses under different

zones

3. Area under group housing should not exceed 20%

of the sector area.

4. Discontinue licenses to the Cooperative Housing

Societies even in Low Potential Zones. No such

restriction for construction of Group Housing pro-

jects.

5. Change of land use (CLU) applications to be con-

sidered in conformity with land use proposals of

the Development Plans and zoning regulations.

6. Classification of controlled areas under hyper

potential, high, medium and low potential zones.

1. The Minister here happened to be the

Chief Minister himself

2. Even if the Director Town Planning wanted

to grant or deny a license he needed the

concurrence of the Chief Minister who

held all urban development portfolios.

3. The fate of all cooperatives housing was

sealed

4. Group housing societies and builders were

indirectly given a free hand.

5. Change of land use made easy

Beneficiary:

BPTP—its strategy has been to quickly

convert land use from agricultural to land

eligible for real estate development and

create a vast bank of licensed land. This

helped them launch mid-income housing

projects in a relatively short time frame even

during the economic recession in 2008-09.

Apart from everything this helped the

company generate robust cash flow with

reduced capital expenditure.

24.04.2007 License to group of per-

sons under Haryana

Development and

Regulation of Urban

Areas Act, 1975—for

setting up of a colony

—as a reputed colonis-

er.

Policy deemed to have

come into effect w.e.f.

19th May, 2004.

Amendment of policy concerning group of persons

dated 20th December, 2006

1. Reputed coloniserp will be the one who has

already obtained a licensey under the Haryana

Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act,

1975

2. In case of collaboration agreement -- a developer

who is not a licensee but applying for a license for

the first time full EDC, service charges and 100%

bank guarantee of internal development works

taken before grant of license “so as to safeguard gthe public interestp . Those who comply with p y

these stipulations would be termed as reputed p p

colonizers.”

1. Group of persons were sought to be given

the status of a reputed coloniser for setting

up a colony.

2. Changed in definition of reputed coloniser

as one who has

a. Already obtained a license

b. Pays full EDC, service charges and 100%

bank guarantee for internal

development.

3. Allowed back door entry for private

developers—without a license to sign but

desiring to make an entry by signing a

collaboration agreement with a group of

persons




30.5.2007 Amended area parame-

ters for Cyber Parks/ IT

Parks in residential

sectors

Effective for application

received after 7th

August, 2006.

Utilisation of maximum 5% of the area of a residential

sector for establishment of IT Parks/Cyber Parks

What was the need to back date by almost

one year?

Ironically all the six licenses for IT City in

Gurgaon over 36 acre land in sector 24,25 and

25A in Hooda’s tenure have been bagged by

DLF Universal. Similarly more than 90 % of the

53 IT parks over 412 acre land are concentrat-

ed in Gurgaon. Faridabad managed 6 while

Gwal Pahari —a nondescript place got one.

30.9.2007 Policy for release of land

from acquisition

Policy formed vide letter no.5/30/2007-2TCP

26.10.2007 Policy for release of land

from acquisition

The earlier policy formed just 26 days back was super-

seded. Salient features of this policy were:

1. Only those applications will be considered for

release under section 48(1) where structure exist-

ed prior to section 4 and were inhabited.

2. Any factory or commercial establishment which

existed prior to section 4 will be considered for

release.

3. Any religious institution or any building owned by

community will also be considered for release

4. Any land for which an application was made

under section 3 of Haryana Development and

Regulations of Urban Areas Act, 1975 by the owners

prior to award for converting the land into a colony

5. Same for a land where the ownership was estab-

lished prior to notification under section 4 of the

Act.

6. Land may be released in the interest of integrated

and planned development where the owners have

obtained stay from courts

7. Government may release any land on the grounds

other than stated above under section 48(1) of the

Act under exceptionally justifiable circumstances

but reasons are to be recorded in writing

It is obvious that these revised guidelines were

framed to allow big commercial and religious

interests to openly misuse the system.

1. All it takes for a builder is to claim and

prove—at least on paper that the

structure existed prior to section 4 and

is inhabited.

2. Why special favours for factories and

commercial establishment which existed

prior to section 4? This simply indicates

that either section 4 was not required or

now a back door is being opened.

3. Why should religious institutions be

shown special favours?

4. The act seeks to regulate the land use and

prevent ill-planned, haphazard urbanisa-

tion in Haryana and section 3 deals with

detailed process an owner desiring to con-

vert his land into a colony has to follow –

in other words it means that the owner

prior to the award was himself interested

in conversion of the land into colony.

5. When a court has granted stay, where is

the question of releasing the land?

20-11-07 Change of Land Use for

buildings that existed

before declaration of

Controlled Area

No additional CLU should be required where ground

coverage or permissible FAR has already been

achieved up to 75% of the permissible limits.

01-02-08 Policy for Change of

Land use permission for

buildings that existed

before the declaration

of controlled area

of controlled area, to be retained as is, benefit of

60% ground coverage to be given.

subsequent floors falling in the setback area, no

new construction to be allowed in setback area.

27.03.2008 One time relaxation to

private schools, whose

applications are

pending in Education

Department for want of

recognition

to apply to applicants, whose applications are

pending in the Education Department..

as per prevalent Education Rules.

lease period is of 20 years.

-

vate school whose applications are pending for

recognition in the Education Department

Please note how the town and country

planning department is providing legitimacy

to private schools and institutions which are

yet to be recognised by the education

department

Could it be because the CM’s son-in-law Kunal

Bhadoo is himself in the field of education?





13.05.2008 Policy regarding remov-

al of height restriction

of building for group

housing colony and

commercial colony

1. Removal of limit on maximum height of buildings

in Group Housing and Commercial Colonies for

which licenses are issued under Haryana Urban

Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act,

1975

2. Town & Country Planning Department notification

No. 8DP(ii)-2004/483, dated 22.12.2004 withdrawn

Policy likely to affect 391 Group Housing

society projects in Gurgaon, Bahadurgarh,

Daruhera, Faridabad, Jajjar, Karnal, Palwal,

Panipat Rewari, Pinjore and Sonipat covering

5451 acre and 57 commercial projects mostly

in Gurgaon over 343 acre

One of those who applied for 2 licenses in

Com zone in Gurgaon, sector 83 was Venod

Sharma—a childhood friend of Hooda who

applied as Piccadily Hotels

30-5-2008 Radha Swami Satsang

Beas Deras

Scrutiny fee of `10/- per sq metre on the entire site. In

return maximum permissible ground coverage and

Change of Land Use permission on vacant lands

Such a low rate —`10 per sq/ metre

15.09.2008 Policy regarding grant

of license to Cooperative

Housing Societies.

License only to those Registered Cooperative Housing

Societies who collaborate with builders/ developers

who have financial and technical expertise for

development of residential colonies.

27.3.2009 Registration of

independent floors for

the residential plots of

licensed colonies

Registration of independent floors shall be allowed

in residential plots—180 sq yards or above.

Floor and recognized as a distinct, identifiable

property with a separate identification number,

along with proportionate rights in the declared

common areas and common facilities, rights of

access, easements and other ownership rights as

well as the right to use, transfer or dispose off the

property in accordance with the rules.

to separate water supply and electricity connec-

tions subject to building regulations/ rules of

Power Utilities.

BPTP—In Jan 2009, Haryana Government

permitted registration of independent floors

on residential plots. BPTP took the advantage

by switching over from plotted housing to

independent floors and started offering three

bedroom houses at nominal prices. In this

manner the company was able to launch and

sell 4,997 units in “Park Elite Floors’ in just 5

months. In August 2009, phase II of Park Elite

Floors was raised out of payments received

from 94% customers in phase I. By late 2009,

BPTP had received `2.41 billion in payments.

29.05.2009 Policy for Low Cost/

Mass Housing Projects

85% of the dwelling units approved under such

scheme shall be done through the Government of

Haryana at a predetermined cost

20.08.2009 Policy for Low Cost/

Affordable Housing

Projects

1. The aim of this policy was to provide different

categories of affordable housing priced at `4 lakh,

`12.5 lakh, `14 lakh and `16 lakh

2. This scheme was open only for three months

10 leading builders were licensed 200 acre

land in Gurgaon to build 40,000 units. Not a

single apartment has been handed over.

20.08.2009 Amendment in policy

dated 19.12.2006,

29.5.2009 for grant of

Group Housing

Component as a part of

plotted colony and

increase in density.

Fallout of a meeting of CM Haryana with colonisers

on 14 July:

allowed maximum 10% area for group housing

over and above existing 20% limit for group

housing in a sector

214 licenses for 13,448 acre land – for plotted

colonies—highest single category of land

sold in Haryana. Top beneficiaries who have

cornered almost 50% of land for plotted colo-

nies are BPTP (1375 acre), Ansal (1209), Udhar

Gagan + Sonika+ Vipul (886), InTime (865),

Omaxe (754), Parsavnath (646) and DLF (491

acre).

22.12.2009 Policy on Original

Municipal Limits/

Extended MC limits

29


29.04.2010 Occupation Certificate

and composition of

offence where change

of land use permission

has expired.

amount if any, toward increase in the prescribed

rates if any from the date of application for grant of

occupation certificate.

for unauthorised occupation of the building as

well as EDC at updated rates

Change of land-use to general category

group housing alone has made different

builders richer by around `4,000 crore.

17.5.2010 Change of Land Use

permission for Fuel sta-

tion/ Retail Outlet,

Educational institutes in

Controlled Areas.

Those wanting to open educational institutes in con-

trolled areas were required to get Genuineness

Certificate from the DC before being considered for

change of land use permission. DC would issue the

NOC after receiving reports from various Departments.

On the plea that this delay in decision making was

causing harassment to public and in order to speed

up the cases, the Government decided that:

Retail Outlets in the controlled areas as the DC

seeks reports from different departments before

issuing the final NOC.

issue Genuineness Certificate based on his his/her

assessment of the promoter and after seeking

report from the Education Department or any

other competent regulatory agency.

16.06.2010 Educational Facilities in

the Urban Areas/

Controlled Areas

Uniform norms for Educational Institutions in

residential colonies being developed by HUDA,

Colonisers and Change of land use cases in controlled

areas as well as municipalities.

24.01.2011 Policy regarding release

of land from acquisition

Release of any land on grounds other than stated

under Section 48(1) under exceptionally justifiable

222222222222222222222222222222222222999999999999999999999999999999999999999wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww ..inindindddndnninnndnnin ianianiaianannianniaaana buzbububuzbuzbuzbuzuzzzzz.cz.cz.z.ccczzz.ccomomomomomomoommmgfigfifiggfigfigfgfgfifg lleleleslesesslesl s insinsnsnsinnsiinin ididededeidedeidideiidiide thttthhthththhhtthh thtthththheeee gggeeeeee ggggee gggovovovovvveeoveveeeveveeveoovverrnnrnmrnmmmmrnmmrnmnmrnmmmnmmmmrr mrrnnmmeenenntentteenntttnttteentnntteeentente t

vol.vol.oolvol.vvol. 77777, , issuississuuissussussssssuueeeeeeee 11111 111 1111 111111 | FFFFFF| FF| F FFFeebeebbbrrebebbbrrrebrrebrruuaruuararaaarararuuuuuaaarruuaaaararuuuaaruuaarrry 2yy y 22y 2y 22y 22yyy 2222yy 2yy 2y 2yyy 22y 220000114141414440000001140000 400140001

of land from acquisition under Section 48(1) under exceptionally justifiable

circumstances to be recorded in writing

Prime Priorities Areas of Hooda government

1 Policies for Easy and On Demand Change of land Use – Main focus of Hooda government

2 Policies on land acquisition

3 Policies relating to group housing/ plotted colonies

4 Policies related to recognised and yet to be recognised educational institutes

5 Policies for IT Parks/Cyber Parks

6 Policy for Cooperative Housing Societies.

7 Policy for Low Cost/ Mass Housing Projects PPI contd. on next page



“blatant misuse of power”, the court quashed the allotment of the property worth millions just three kilometres from Sukhna Lake. “This court cannot shut its eyes to a patently illegal act committed by the State in showing favouritism to a person who had been a senior functionary in the State, “Justices MM Kumar and Rajesh Bindal observed while directing HUDA to refund the amount received from Prasher for the plot.

INCIDENTALLY, the order to allotthe land was passed by Hooda.Likewise, it was Hooda who had

allowed Ponty Chadha to monopo-lise the liquor trade in Gurgaon andFaridabad for about eight years till2006. There was a time when Chadhaused to own 130 vends in Gurgaonand 150 in Faridabad. This is whensomething happened between the

two and, while the Haryana govern-ment changed the excise policy andsystem of bidding, Chadha decided towithdraw.

The arbitrary and ad-hoc mannerin which decisions are taken or alteredin Hooda’s tenure can be judged fromthe following two examples:

Dwarka Expressway: A disputed stretch of 4 km is holdingup the Northern Peripheral Road,also known as Dwarka Expressway,connecting Dwarka with NationalHighway 8—an alternate link road between Delhi and Gurgaon.Though this 18 km long road wasto ease the traffic on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, at the lastminute powerful builders like NavinRaheja allegedly managed to get thealignment of the Dwarka Expressway changed. Now instead of passing overempty land, over 300 houses in New Palam Vihar Colony would have tobe demolished to make way for theroad. How to safeguard the interestsof the thousands of householderswithout sacrificing the commercial

HAT’S off to the Hooda govern-ment for mastering the misuse of change of land use (CLU)

and the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Here are a few illustrative examples of what actually happens:

after a government notification to acquire land about three years ago in Ullahwas. Private builders took advantage of the situation and bought land for `3-4 crore per acre. After the final notification, once it became clear that the farmers could not sell their land, the developers reduced the offered price to `2–2.5 crore. Still, the remaining farmers sold off 100-150 acres. Once the sale deeds were executed, the sold lands were "released" by the government. In this process, poor villagers lost their ancestral land but the develop-ers became stinking rich.

-sis after HUDA issued preliminary notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act—in Ullahwas, Behrampur, Kadarpur, Ghata, Badshapur and Medawas—to acquire 1,417 acres of land for Sectors 58-63, Gurgaon, private builders spread the word that the government would offer low compensation rates. This helped them corner large chunks of land at throwaway prices in June 2009.

trap after HSIDC issued a notifica-tion to acquire 912 acres of land in Manesar, some smart landowners entered into agreement with private developers and applied for change of land use. Within two years of the final notification, the land acquisition pro-cess was scrapped.

-tion notice, farmers in Jandli, Kamli, Saunda and Sarai Mehdood sold large

Modus operandi: New highways open up land acquisition opportunities for builders (top right); the entry toDwarka-Gurgaon Expressway (below)



chunks of land to Alaska Construction and Vatika Ltd. Soon after, the farmers entered into a sale deed with Rajnish Sharma, MD of Alaska Construction and Venod Sharma’s cousin. The land was then released under Section 5-A of the Land Acquisition Act.

The modus operandi to favour select builders is very simple and ‘legal’. The only condition is that an official gov-ernment agency, like the HUDA or the Haryana Housing Board or HSIDC, is to be kept in the forefront. Even today, the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, enacted first in the 18th century Bengal, is one of the unusually harsh and draconian laws with lot of discretionary executive powers. Cumbersome and costly proce-dures make it a dreaded tool of State oppression. It provides the legal basis for acquisition of privately held land by the government for public purposes. “Public purpose” under the Act means educational, health institutions, hous-ing, slum or rural development schemes for general public welfare.

The process begins with a prelimi-nary notice under Section 4 of the Act for acquisition of land needed or likely to be needed for any public purpose and a notification from the district col-lector’s office is published in the Official Gazette and two daily newspapers.

The biggest flaw in the Act is that—even in those cases where the land is genuinely required in public interest —there is a considerable difference between the market value of the prop-erty and price offered to the landowner by the land acquisition officers. Once this notification is made, the owner is prohibited from selling his property, disposing it off or doing anything that might affect its value or compensa-tion—without the prior permission of the collector. In rural India, where agri-cultural land is being passed on from one generation to another and there are multiple owners and joint families, this puts the fear of God in the mind of the landowner.

Exploiting this loophole in the law,

private builders, developers and col-onisers then approach farmers and landowner, offering them slightly more than what they expect from the government. Most farmers give in at this stage. However, if the landowner refuses, the government department issues a declaration under Section 6. The Deputy Commissioner, or any other competent authority, may then take possession of the land imme-diately, which shall thereupon vest absolutely with the government, free from all claims, whatsoever. Usually this makes the most reluc-tant landowners/ farmers to accept the builder’s offer. Once the deal is brokered, the new owner—the build-er—approaches the TCP Department to award a license for development of land in the stipulated Master Plan area, under Section 9, and withdraw the acquisition notice.

As per law, the government is at liberty to withdraw from acquisi-tion of land under Section 16 of the Act at any stage before the physical possession of land. So, in a smooth and legal manner, the government withdraws its acquisition notice and private developer makes his millions from the instant price escalation.

Another related issue is change of land use. This invariably requires payment of EDC and official con-version charge, besides an “unof-ficial convenience fee” of anywhere between `25-50 lakh per acre, for smooth, speedy and hassle-free change of land use. The change of land use seemingly has been one of the unwritten key policies of Hooda government, which has allowed conversion of 21,000-acre land from agricultural to residential, industrial or commercial over the last seven odd years.

MODUS OPERANDI: HOW FAVOURS ARE GRANTED LEGALLY




HARYANA today is not a State, butreal estate. Agricultural, forest ordefence, every bit of land in any

corner of the State is up for sale. Andthe person responsible for it—Hooda—is behaving not as the Chief Ministerbut Chief Marketing and BusinessDevelopment Officer of Haryana.

First let’s understand why Haryanais in need for such developmentalover-drive? The simple answer is thatHaryana envelops Delhi on three sideswith well defined roads, rail, nation-al, international airports and otherinfrastructure. Almost 29 NationalHighways, covering over 1,461 km,2,494 km-long State Highways andSouth Asia’s oldest major road GrandTrunk (GT) Road pass through the State.Gurgaon is today the fastest growing and most talked-about business hubwith the highest concentration of mul-tinational corporate offices. It is soongoing to have the `1,000 crore RapidMetro Rail—India’s first wholly private(IL&FS 74 per cent equity share and DLF26 per cent) railway project. But, while Gurgaon has so far overshadowed otherareas like Faridabad, Sonepat, Panipat,and Karnal, this hierarchical imbalance is not going to last long. Even manyinsignificant and relatively unheard of places like Kondli, Manesar, Rewari,Hissar, Palwal, Bhiwani, Bahadurgarh,Jhajjar and Bawal are queuing up to break the economic glass ceiling. Theeffect of all this is a feverish pitch toacquire land and identify new areas for infrastructure development to meet theneeds of the growing population forluxury, economy and low-cost housing,commercial and entertainment centres,public utilities, parks, and other urbancivic facilities.

Expressway, or Kundli-Mansear-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, is going to connect Kundli, Sonipat, Manesar,Gurgaon, Faridabad and Palwal. Itwill cross NH-1 near Kundli, NH-2 atPalwal, NH-8 at Manesar and NH-10at Western Bahadurgarh. Many inves-tors are investing in residential andcommercial projects on both sides of the expressway. Since the commence-ment of work on the Expressway, landprices in Kundli have increased from`25 lakh per acre to `1.5 crore peracre. Almost 242.55 acre land from 14villages has been acquired for DwarkaExpressway, also called NorthernExpress Road or Northern PeripheralRoad, which will cut down travel timebetween Delhi, Gurgaon and Manesar.This is going to be the lifeline for majorhousing projects in Gurgaon-Manesar.Almost 26 new sectors (99 to 115 and58 to 67) are being developed along this Expressway. Phase III of Metrorail on this route will link IGI Airportand Dwarka. Further, 12 specialisedhubs—including Education City (5,000

Development Overdrive?The biggest blockbuster, of course,

is the 1,483 km-long Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)—a mega US$90 billion infrastructure project connecting Delhi and Mumbai—being built with financial and technical aid from Japan. The highlights of this project include a Golden Quadrilateral National Highway and a Multi-modal High Axle ALoad Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) running parallel to each other between Delhi and Mumbai. Starting from Dadri, in Delhi NCR, these would pass through six States—Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and terminate at Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Over 60 per cent area of Haryana is directly or indirectly influenced by DMIC. Several top-of-the-line industrial estates, clusters, indus-trial hubs and investment regions, like Sonipat-Kundli and Manesar-Bawal, are being developed along this corridor with the help of grants and loans from Indian and Japanese governments as well as investments by Japanese and Indian firms. The project area of this ambitious DMIC project extends up to 150 km on both sides of the Delhi-Mumbai Dedicated Freight Corridor and opens floodgate of opportunities along NH-8, NH-2, NH-1 and NH -10 for industrial, urban and supporting infra-structure. Already Bawal has evolved as a mega industrial hub with a large numbers of multinational companies lining up to set up their manufacturing bases. Besides these, two investment regions at Manesar-Bawal-Nimarana and Kundli-Sonepat, as well as two mega industrial areas are coming up at Faridabad-Palwal and Rewari-Hissar to capitalise on the locational advantages.

A 135.6 km-long Western Peripheral

33gfiles inside the governmentvol. 7, issue 11 | February 2014

acres), Sample Township (8,401 acres), Cyber City (470 acres), Bio-sciences City (1,370 acres), Jahangirpuri-Badli Township (14,226 acres), Fashion City (544 acres), Entertainment City (346 acres), World Trade City (650 acres), Dry Port City (1,770 acres), Leather City (691 acres) and Leisure City (1,853 acres)—would be developed along the KMP Expressway. The Southern Peripheral Road and the Northern Peripheral Road (Dwarka Expressway) will form a ring around Gurgaon, allow-ing long-distance inter-city and inter-State vehicular traffic to bypass the Gurgaon Expressway (NH8).

That’s not all, also on the anvil are a Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway with the largest 32-lane toll plaza in Asia on NH8, a 8-lane flyover on Badarpur-Faridabad stretch of Mathura Road and a 4-lane highway in Yamuna Nagar and Panchkula—connecting Haryana to Chandigarh (without entering Punjab). Haryana already has Metro Rail connecting Gurgaon, Faridabad and Bahadurgarh to different parts of

Delhi. Many universities and colleges are coming up in Khanpur, Murthal, Karnal, Mewar and Faridabad. Awomen’s university and Rajiv Gandhi University—on the pattern of Oxford University in Sonipat—a central univer-sity in Mahendragarh, Lala Lajpat Rai University of Animal Sciences in Hissar and the first defense university in Gurgaon should transform Haryana into an international commercial and edu-cational hub in the next 5-7 years. Half of Haryana’s over 20,412 sq kmform part of NCR India's largest and world's second-largest agglomeration with a population of 22,157,000. Haryana also takes pride in the fact that large part of its area is covered under the NCR, for which NCRPB is providing soft loans up to 75 per cent of the project cost.

Prima facie it may seem that Hooda stole a march over Sheila Dikshit who used to say that people from neighbor-ing States could come, work and use Delhi’s infrastructure. Hooda’s logic makes better sense from the point of view of NCR—to develop Haryana as a

sub-region so that people from nearby areas do not have to migrate or travel to Delhi and the influx of Delhi’s floating population is arrested.

But, Hooda has ended up causing more harm than good to Haryana. Inthe speed to ‘market’ Haryana and develop it, he has ended up widening the gap between the rich and the poor and ignored the real needs of people. Haryana needs development, but not at the cost of its citizens.

How many farmers in Haryana, or their children, are going to benefit from the integrated investment regions, mega industrial areas, malls, multi-plexes, IT cities, educational, entertain-ment, world trade and fashion hubs being set up on the land of their fore-fathers? Some of them have suddenly found tonnes of money in their pock-ets, but without the means to spend it wisely. In most cases, the price of all this will have to be paid in terms of depression, suicides, family disputes, drunken brawls, oppression of widows, exploitation of weaker sections and social tensions over distribution of the compensation amount. Likewise, how many of the literate farming youngsters would suddenly land up with smart, sophisticated white collar jobs in IT, multinational and mega-million dollar corporate giants? A bulk of the vacan-cies in such companies will be filled by highly technical foreigners, NRIs and highly qualified public school-educated Indians and the poor citizens of Haryan might be deemed fit only to serve as low-paid security guards, peons, driv-ers or conductors in DTC and Haryana Roadways buses, or low-level consta-bles in Delhi and Haryana Police. Is this is what’s called development, progress and prosperity? Who wins if Haryana and Haryanvis lose?


Builders line the main roads of Gurgaon to sell their projects



interest of the builders/developers, is proving to be a tricky legal issue. That is besides the interests of people of Sai Kunj, New Palam Vihar Phase-III in Gurgaon, whose land too was proposed to be acquired by Haryana government.

Northern Express Road:About 618.5 acres were acquired from Pawala Khasroorpur, Chauma and Kherki Dhaula villages for construc-tion of a 150-metre wide and 25 kil-ometre-long Northern Express Road. This was expected to cost `120 crore and reduce the travel time between Delhi and Gurgaon, but nothing has been done because of protracted litigations. Fifteen kilometres of this road passes through suburban Gurgaon and 10 km through Delhi. As things stand today, while HUDA has acquired the land, it cannot take

How Uddar Gagan Properties got absolute monopoly in Rohtak

Licenses Area Land Licenses in Hooda Regime since 2005

16 Rohtak 958 acre

Jop International Ltd. RGH 6.09

Omaxe Construction Plotted 77.48

Omaxe Construction Plotted 41.91

One Point Realty Plotted 59.66

One Point Realty Addl. Plotted 13.44

Parsavnath Developers Plotted 118.19

Ramesh Chander Plotted 4.4

Sharad farms and holdings GH 14.81

636.75

Acre66.5 %

Sonika Properties Plotted 175.64



Uddar Gagan Properties Pvt. Ltd. Plotted 92.73

Uddar Gagan Properties Pvt. Ltd. Plotted 15.8

Uddar Gagan Properties Pvt. Ltd. Addl. Plotted 32.45

Uddar Gagan Properties & Others Plotted 60.43

Uddar Gagan Properties & Others Plotted 51.89

Total 957.92

PETITION IN PUBLIC INTEREST



ONE can’t but feel sorry for Bhupinder SinghHooda, who is wearing a crown of thorns.At any given day, he has more enemies

within the Congress than outside. What is worse,most of his one-time friends, supporters andcabinet colleagues are among his sworn enemies.The list of such friends-turned-foes includes four-time MLA and heavyweight former State cabinetminister Kiran Chaudhary and her daughter ShrutiChoudhry, the Lok Sabha MP from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh. Kiran Chaudhary’s husband, lateSurender Singh, was two-time MP and HaryanaAgriculture Minister, and her father-in-law, BansiLal, was the Chief Minister of Haryana. Likewise,former PWD Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala,former Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav,

his son ChiranjeevRao, who headsthe Haryana YouthCongress, GurgaonMP Rao Inderjit Singh,former Union MinisterKumari Selja, AICC general secretaryBirender Singh andRajya Sabha MP Ishwar Singh are all friends-turned-foes. Many senior Congress leaders, like Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, Kumari Selja, Rao InderjitSingh and Birender Singh, have gone to theextent of accusing Hooda of a development biasand favouritism towards members of a particularcaste in government jobs. The Chairman of Haryana Staff Selection Commission and aclose relative of Chief Minister Hooda allegedlyplayed a key role in most of these appointments.Significantly two arch rivals—Capt Yadav andRao Inderjeet Singh—shed their differences andjoined hands to support the demand of 51 Ahirwal-dominated villages of Rewari District whose 455acres of land was sought to be acquired by HUDAto develop two residential sectors.

possession because of a restraint order by the Punjab and Haryana High Court till the final order. In the first place, there was no need for the road to pass through residential areas. Secondly, the original path was alleg-edly altered in the Master Plan after it was discovered that it might other-wise run through a commercial plot.

Most builder friendly CMHooda should go down in history

as the most builder friendly Chief Minister. His is one of the most cor-rupt, pro-builder and anti-farmer Chief Minister Haryana has seen in the last couple of decades. Political pundits allege that big builders, cor-porate houses and industrialists run the government; he is just a proxy—

CRY IN THE WILDERNESS

FEEBLE VOICES

Such photographs are used for newspaper advertisements to show ongoing construction to woo consumers


Rao Inderjit Singh

Kumari Selja

Capt Ajay Singh Yadav

Birender Singh



1Has Haryana government ever investigated the antecedents and

credentials of the companies before they were allowed to acquire land in Haryana and engage in colonisation, buildings and consolidations of land?

2Has any one, including the income-tax department, ever enquired the

source of funds flowing into thesecompanies, as also the fact whethertheir net worth matches that of the value of land they own, or have acquired?

3Has the Haryana governmentchecked the antecedents of the

Chairman/ Managing Director/Directors of the companies engaged inland acquisition and colonisation?

4Has the Haryana government, or any relevant agency, investigated

the changing shareholding pattern of the companies that have acquired huge land in Haryana? It is suspected that by changing the shareholding pattern—by selling a big stake—these companies transfer the land in the guise of transferring the share, due to which the government has suffered huge revenue losses.

5Has any concrete action been taken by the Land Revenue Department

to assess and recover the said losses?

6Has the Haryana government asked for compliance reports from

builders, colonisers and land consolidators regarding the completion of the projects, as claimed by them in the newspapers?

Questions for Hooda7How many builders and colonisers

have been fined by the government on the issue of non-compliance?

8Has the Haryana governmentinvestigated why builders, colonis-

ers and land consolidators are charg-ing extra amount on flimsy groundsfrom customers due to the delays inthe project, whereas the customer isnot responsible for any delay.

9Has the Haryana government developed any mechanism to

address and rescue the customers from the clutches of builder’s mafia for non-compliance of the terms and con-tracts of the buyer-seller agreement and delay of the project?

10How many cases have beenfiled against various builders in

various courts, including the Punjaband Haryana High Court, and what arethe issues these cases raise?

11How almost 1,684 sq km forestarea in the State has become

barren?

12What was the rationale behindholding all departments related

to land and urban development withyourself? Was there no competent MLAin entire Haryana Assembly or was it tocontrol land deals?

13It is alleged that as the Chief Minister, you are responsible

for conversion of vast stretches(approximately 3,500 sq km) of fertileand cultivable land into jungles of con-crete. Your comment.

14Why did you change the exist-ing policy on April 24, 2007, to

redefine the term “reputed coloniser”? Was it done with the ulterior motive to pave the way for backdoor entry of cer-tain developers of your choice?

15Why did you give one-time relaxation to private schools

run by your coterie through Town and Country Planning Department on March 27, 2008, despite their applica-tions being pending with education department for want of recognition? Was it done to accommodate your son-in-law, who is in the business of edu-cation and has ambitious plans in this sector?

16Is it true that your policy dated September 15, 2008, regarding

grant of licences to only those cooper-ative housing societies who enter into collaboration with reputed builders with certain financial qualification, was allegedly created to benefit the build-ers of your choice?

17Why did you give an extended time limit to builders to con-

struct the project up to 15 years, bypassing the earlier limit of two years from date of possession. It is alleged that the order was issued to favour the group of builders of your choice?

18Is it true that your government has not yet utilised the amount

of approximately `10,000 crore collect-ed towards External Development Charges (EDC) from the end consumers through the builders in the last five years for creation of basic amenities?



19 Why did you gift HUDA resi-dential plots to present and

former Haryana MPs and MLAs atMansa Devi Complex, Panchkula, atthrowaway prices of `28 lakh eachwhen the worth of the those plots wasat least `1.5 crore each in the openmarket?

20Is it true that the beneficiariesin the above largesse included

your son Deepender Singh Hooda,besides Kumari Selja, Venod Sharma,Kiran Chaudhary, Navin Jindal,Raghuveer Kadian, RandeepSurjewala, Phool Chand Mulana,Captain Ajay Singh Yadav, ChanderMohan, Hansraj Bhardwaj andShamsher Singh Surjewala and selectofficers of your choice?

21Why was the direction of Dwarka Expressway changed?

Was it done to safeguard thecommercial interest of some of yourfavoured builders/developers at thecost of hundreds of residents of PalamVihar area in Haryana?

22Why did you change the origi-nal path of Northern Express

Road? It is alleged that it was sanc-tioned to please some of your favouritebuilders and developers?

23Why did you shift the powersof the DTCP to grant or refuse

the licences to the office of the minis-ter in-charge, which happens to be theChief Minister, i.e yourself? Don’t youagree that this was done to directlybenefit builders like BPTP?

24 Why did the State define‘Reputed Builder’ to those

allotted the first and the single licenceunder HUDA 1975 Act?

25Is it true that you favoured prominent builders—like DLF,

Unitech, BPTP, Ansals, Vatika Ltd, Suncity Projects, Emaar MGF, Bestech Ltd, Raheja Developers, TDI and Omaxe—in May 2009 by one-time relaxation under the garb of reserving 10 per cent area for low-cost housing in their group housing colonies, which allegedly no builder complied with?

26Why no action has been taken against the said defaulting

builders?

27Why did you bring in the policy of removal of height restric-

tions for group housing and commer-cial projects? This order allegedly doled out benefits/favours to 391 group housing societies and 57 com-mercial projects.

28What was the rationale behind increasing the per hectare

population density in Haryana?

29You have allegedly created three Master Plans which will

create concrete jungles without provid-ing the provisions of water, electricity, sewerage, etc. Your comment?

30As per the norms, one plan is implemented in full and only

then another plan is envisaged. You have stated that you will implement the Master Plan of 2031. Who has given you this mandate as your mandate is only till 2014? Are you so sure of retaining power for another two decades?

31Why have you created a virtual monopoly of builders in differ-

ent parts of the State? Like in Rohtak, where different subsidiaries of Sonica

Builders control 66.5 per cent of the total land licences allotted in your regime. The same story is there in every district of Haryana.

32Why no action is being takenagainst the shell companies

and subsidiaries of various builders,which are out to bypass the landholding laws in the State and alsoavoid registry charges on transfer of ownership of immovable property?

33It is alleged that you and theState machinery have helped

BPTP suddenly become the biggestand richest company in the State,with their business taking a quantumjump after you became CM. Yourcomment.

34Why did you reduce thecompounding and conversion

fees for commercial properties? It isalleged that the decision was meantto benefit the select violators of building by-laws, who have alsocheated the State exchequer.

35It is alleged that theproposed changes in the

Master Plan were leaked to favouredbuilders like Ramprastha, BPTP, etc.,who took advantage of suchinformation and purchased hugestretches of land in the very sectors,hence benefitting to the tune of thousands of crores.

36It is alleged that the Haryanagovernment is run by de

facto chief ministers like VenodSharma, Kunal Bhadoo, Arvind Walia,Anil Sharma, Sameer Gehlaut, KPSingh and Kabul Chawla. What madeyou allow these extra constitutionalauthorities to act on your behalf?




Builders’ mantra: Build dreamhouses, sewer pipes and civicamenities can wait!

a rubber stamp. An example of how prominent builders manage to bend policy matters is seen in the meet-ing chaired by Hooda with repre-sentatives of DLF, Unitech, BPTP, Ansals, Vatika Ltd, Suncity Projects, Emaar MGF, Bestech Ltd, Raheja Developers, TDI and Omaxe in May 2009. Assembly elections were round the corner and the government want-ed the developers to announce popu-list low-cost housing schemes.

SO, at the behest of Vatika Ltd,Hooda announced a “one-timerelaxation” for all those build-

ers who applied for Group HousingColony as part of their plotted colony by the next day and were prepared toreserve 10 per cent area for low-costhousing. In fine print it meant thata builder who agreed to do so wouldget to build four additional large flatsper acre. In one instance, the govern-ment even announced 40,000 afford-able homes for `12.5-`16 lakh each.About 10 top-notch builders were

given licenses for 200 acres of landin Gurgaon. But till date, not a singleapartment is nearing completion. Anirrefutable fact is that no one wants tobuild low-cost housing projects for thepoor. The builders keep exploiting thesentiments behind it to get favours forthemselves, but do not actually takesuch projects seriously.

Another example of behind-the-scene administrative support is how HUDA first earmarked one million sq.ft land for open auction in Gurgaon’sSector 29, but kept unnecessarily delaying the auction to give the build-ers a chance to sell their properties athigh rates.

A cruel joke, however, is how thenew Gurgaon Master Plan tries topack all economically weaker andlow-income groups—expected to bearound 42 lakh plus in 2031—on just

Haryana Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda hasbeen ruling the State with the

help of his trusted officers for thelast nine years. Hooda appointedML Tayal, a 1976 batch IAS officer of

Hooda’s coterie

ML Tayal Krishan Khandelwal Chhattar Singh SS Dhillon

the Haryana cadre, as his first PrincipalSecretary in March 2005. Tayal, whohails from Hissar, was his collegefriend and both had good rapport. Akeen golfer, Tayal was known as afrank and blunt officer. It is reported

that Tayal was brought in becausehe had the experience of Town andCountry Planning. Sources disclosedthat Chhattar Singh, a 1980 batch IASofficer, who was already working asAdditional Principal Secretary wasbrought in as Principal Secretary atthe recommendation of Tayal when the



50 hectares of land in Sector 68. Thismeans confining them into unhy-gienic and insanitary ghettoes havingpopulation density of more than 1,125people per hectare.

In his two stints over the last sevenyears, Hooda has broken all recordsof the past 23 years and granted over1,000 licenses to builders to developall kinds of plots, group housing soci-eties, commercial plots, IT Parks, ITCities and low-cost housing projects.While 12 of his predecessors managedto grant licenses for just 8,550.32 acres,Hooda has granted licenses for 21,447acres. A majority of these licenses


latter’s term was over.Hooda has looked after the interests

of both the officers, given the long association and being privy to Hooda’ssecrets, by respectably rehabilitating them. Tayal is the member of Competition Commission of India andChhattar Singh is a Member of theUnion Public Service Commission.Sudeep Singh Dhillon, a senior IASofficer of 1984, was appointed as thenew Principal Secretary on August 30,2013. Dhillion, an upright officer, hasvaried experience of administration.He has also worked as Vice-Chairmanof HUDA.

The second most important officer isa 1985 batch officer, Dr Krishan KumarKhandelwal. As Principal Secretary to

the Chief Minister, he looks aftermedia and public relations.

Due to his innovative ideas andmedia management, Hooda won agood number of seats in the lastassembly elections. Ironically,Dhillon and Khandelwal are atloggerheads but both are loyal tothe Chief Minister.

It is reported that apart fromthese two important functionariesof the Haryana Government, TCGupta, Director General and SpecialSecretary, Town and CountryPlanning and Urban EstatesDepartments, 1987-batch IAS officerof Haryana cadre is eyes and earsof Hooda regarding land-relatedmatters.



THE Dwarka Expressway is a builder’s para-dise and customer’s nightmare. BhupinderSingh Hooda must have been a dreamer in

his life and must have been a good sketchmas-ter, believing in creating castles, towns, casinoson paper. The moment he got an opportunity toturn his visions into reality, he used the HaryanaDevelopment Authority’s map and drew a straightline bordering Gurgaon, which is now called theDwarka-Gurgaon Expressway. It is a dreamland andgoldmine for builders. According to the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF), the growth rate of India is 3.2per cent. The inference of this is that there is nomajor industrial activity happening in India. So, oneneeds a place where the resources can be placed forprofit. Hooda has facilitated all the speculators andprovided them with their playground—the Dwarka-Gurgaon Expressway. As per real estate experts, the expressway is a gold mine worth `2 lakh crore. It is definitely not just a connecting road from Dwarkato Gurgaon—but much more. There is not a singlesmall or big builder who is not present there. Theircolourful hoardings indicate the boundary walls of their money spinning mill, acres of what was onceflourishing farmland.

Dwarka Expressway: Neither express nor way—just a speculators’ den



gfiles team travelled to the expressway to ascer-tain first hand what is happening on the ground. Ittakes almost an hour to locate the expressway asnobody except the builders knows the exact loca-tion. One starts off from Palam Vihar’s 10-feet street, or the chaotic Old Bus Stand of Gurgaon, approach-ing a 20-feet road further and then going zig-zag through the village. Then you see a bizarre scene,the actual sketch drawn by Hooda on the ground– his dreamland. Nobody knows where the express-way connects or what it connects. The moment youreach the expressway and travel from one end toanother, it is not a smooth journey at all. The obsta-cles are many – varying from open nalas, blockades,a temple and even houses. Or, suddenly the road just disappears. One has to go through a twisting kachha track to reconnect with the road. The onlyroads which seem to be of some calibre are the onesleading to builder plots.

The builders have started basic construction, just to advertise in newspapers that actual site construc-tion is going on. This is to collect huge amounts of money from unsuspecting and honest customers, who are sitting miles away visualising designer houses at sites which are just fields and mud. The gfiles team visited one of the builders to see his model villa. It was truly a dream house. The pricetag: `4.5 crore, but without water, electricity, road,hospital, schools, etc.

The builders are there in full strength. When theexpressway will see the light of day, nobody knows.But the villages and their acquired lands are alreadyreduced to slums, turning the lives of the people there upside down.




and bulk of the land in the last seven-and-a-half years of Hooda rule have been cornered by a clique of just 33 builders. These include Countrywide Promoters, Ansal Properties & Infrastructure, DLF, New Gurgaon Home Developers, Intime Promoters (TDI), Omaxe Housing & Developers, Unitech, Vatika Land Base, Parsavnath Developers, Emaar MGF Land, IREO KSS Properties, Sonika, Chintals India, AN Buildwell, Bestech India, Uddar Gagan, Reliance Haryana SEZ, Rangoli Projects, India Bulls Estates, Vipul Infrastructure Developers, Dwarkadhis Buildwell, Raheja Developers, Ramprastha Buildwell, Pioneer Urban Land & Infrastructure, Herman Fin Properties, Grandeur Real Estate, Uppal Housing, Jai Krishna Artec JV, Mapsco Buildwell, Parveen Gupta, Vipin Gupta, ERA Infrastructure, Martial Buildcon, Desert Moon Realtors Pvt Ltd and Orris Infrastructure. Each of them can be said to be a direct beneficiary of Hooda’s benevolence in the sense

that they have not only have managed to get large banks of 100 acres, but in a cool, calculated manner have been given virtual monopoly in different parts of the State.

HOODA is the uncrowned kingAof Rohtak, which is often referred to as Haryana’s

political capital. In Jat dominat-ed Rohtak, Hooda’s home districtand political constituency, a clique of Sharad Farms and Holdings,Sonika Properties and Uddar GaganProperties—all three subsidiariesof the consortium formed by ZeeTV’s Essel Group, Action Group andOdeon Builders—has acquired almost636.75 acres of land. This gives them a virtual monopoly in the market with 66.5 per cent land licenses in the

PETITION IN PUBLIC INTEREST



district since the day Hooda became CM in 2005. Similarly, in Panipat, Ansal Properties & Infrastructurehas bagged 346 acre land and 25 per cent of all licenses. The same story is repeated in Sonipat where Intime Promoters has managed to get 887 acres of land and overall 29 per cent of all licenses. Ansal Properties & Infrastructure holds 75.6 per cent, i.e., 167.34 out of 221.24 acres licensed in Yamuna Nagar-Jagadhari and 125 acre, that is 33 per cent land licensed in Kurukshetra. Omaxe Construction commands Palwal market with 35.6 per cent land, while Baderwals Infraprojects, VPN Real Estate and Choice Real Estate Developers have complete monop-oly with 100 per cent land licenses in Mahendergarh, Sirsa and Bawal,

respectively. Countrywide Promoters is the undisputed king of Faridabad with 1,282 acre of the 2,402 acre land sold—53.4 per cent of all the licenses. Gurgaon is a different ball game. Though Ansal Properties, Anant Raj Industries, Countrywide Promoters, Commander Realtors, Chintals India and Bestech India have all managed to have their own pock-ets of influence in the new areas, DLF Ltd has the overall edge in Gurgaon.

Many of the builders use shell com-panies and subsidiaries for obtaining the land—circumventing the land ceiling act, done away with recently. A common practice among develop-ers is to have a matrix of companies to conceal the actual purchase. At a later date, the subsidiary, or the shell com-pany, is bought or sold with the land to avoid registry charges, even though this violates the law on transfer of ownership of immovable property.

Planned urban disaster

THE fact that three unwanted,undesirable and untimely Master Plans 2021, 2025 and

2031 were introduced within 7 yearsis symbolic of a methodical and bru-tal exploitation of residential, com-mercial and industrial land underHooda’s leadership. The hiddenagenda behind these frequent chang-es in Master Plans was allegedly tofavour few individuals and builders.Only Hooda can say what he gained;the only thing that appreciated in theprocess was real estate prices, thattoo in a few pockets of the State. Inthe overall context, Haryana and itscitizens will continue to pay the pricein the years to come.

One of the first things that Hoodadid after coming to power was tochange the industrial policy of theState and make it favourable forreal estate development. Within15 months of taking over, Hoodareleased the first draft of MasterPlan 2021 on July 11, 2006. IntimePromoters, Countrywide, Omax,Vipul Infrastructure, Bestech India,

A housing complex amidst a greenbelt flouts all ecological norms (left);rising dust adds to the pollution (bottom left)


Many of the builders use shell companies and

subsidiaries for obtaining the land—circumventing the land ceiling act, done

away with recently.



Parsavnath Developers, Unitech and M3M were the direct beneficiaries. They allegedly went on a buying spree at the right time and gained heavily from the price escalation after Master Plan 2021. Within next six months, Hooda notified the final Master Plan on February 5, 2007. This plan saw many land use changes from SEZ/public and semi-public/industrial use to residential use in Sectors 37C, 37D, 95, and 107 of Gurgaon. Significantly, Ramprastha Builders made a for-tune buying land in these sectors. The company purchased lands in the name of its subsidiary firms Ramprastha Estates, Ramprastha Greens, Ramprastha Towers and Ramprastha Buildwell in Sectors 37D, 92, 95. According to informed sourc-es, Hooda is allegedly one of the silent partners in Ramprastha Builders.

The State government converted 500 acres of agricultural land in Sectors 63A and 67A of Gurgaon to residential land use in the draft Master Plan 2025, released on October 4, 2010, and notified on May 24, 2011. A year later, 2,200 acres of SEZ land was converted into residential/commer-cial use, and parts of Sector 115 (81.57 acres)—earlier earmarked for public and semi-public use—was converted to commercial use on November 15, 2012 in the draft Master Plan 2031, released and notified on September 4, 2012. The only explanation for such unprecedented and frequent revision is lobbying by the coterie of build-ers, developers, brokers and politi-cians to drastically increase the value of their cheaply acquired lands and make a fast buck. The real impact of the Gurgaon-Manesar Master Plans is that even the price of land in relatively nondescript areas like Wazirpur and Hayatpur, acquired for ̀ 25 lakh about a decade ago, has skyrocketed to over `6-7 crore an acre.

THE Gurgaon Master Plan by-passes the NCR Planning Board’s priorities and is being described

as “environment-unfriendly” and damaging for the green areas and nat-ural water bodies in the already eco-logically fragile area. Many of the new areas in the Master Plan are sought tobe carved out of natural water stor-age and drainage systems, including nullahs and bunds. For Gurgaon, which already has acute shortage andabsence of any natural source of waterfor the growing urban population,this has serious consequences in the long run. The main drawbacks in theMaster Plans are:

1. Hidden agenda seems tobe expansion of real estate: Interestingly, the only thing that changes with every revision of theMaster Plan (MP) is land available forresidential, commercial and indus-trial development. For instance, resi-dential land increases from 14,930hectares (MP 2021) to 15,148 hectares(MP 2025) and, then, 16,010 hectares(MP 2031). Similarly, commercialland increases from 1,404 hectares(MP 2021) to 1,429 hectares (MP2025) and 1,616 hectares (MP 2031),while industrial land decreases from5,441 hectares (MP 2021) to 5,431hectares (MP 2025) and 4,613 hec-

tares (MP 2031). The ulterior motivebehind the new Master Plan seems to be to allegedly benefit some closefriends of Hooda. The entire process is kept so secret that only a handfulof people with inside information getthe advantage.

2. Fault lines: The Master Planseems to overestimate the rate of population growth to somehow justify rapid urban expansion and addition of 58 new sectors to the existing57 sectors.

3. Just plans, no action: It makesno sense to release three Master Plans within 7 years and with so many changes between the Draft and thefinal Master Plan. It defies logic totalk about Master Plan 2031 when theplanning goals and objectives of even2021 and 2025 have not been met.

4. Arbitrary and unfairYou scratch my back, I will scratch

yours–this is the mantra for the strong politician-bureaucrat-builder nexus inHaryana. Politicians and bureaucratsinvest their surplus and ill-gottenwealth in the construction industry.

Builder hoardings abound every opentract in Gurgaon (right); one of the many unfinished construction sites (below)




The builders, in turn, reciprocate by providing funds and logistical support during the elections.

An industrial zone, mentioned in the Gurgaon-Manesar Master Plans 2021 and 2025, is suddenly convert-ed into agriculture zone in Master Plan 2031. That apart, its land owners are arbitrarily denied permission to get the land use changed.

If the idea behind revision of 2025 Plan was to reallocate the land associ-ated with the failed SEZ, what was the justification of acquisition of land in Wazirpur, Hayatpur, Mohammadpur, Gharouli Khurd, Gharouli Kalan and Harsaru for creation of new residential and commercial facilities in Sectors 36B, 37B, parts of 37D, 68, 88A, 88B, 89A, 89B, 95A, 95B and 99A.

Though Sector 16 was reserved for public and semi-public use, it was changed to Special Zone where group housing, commercial and entertain-ment projects are allowed.

Increase in population density from 250 to 625 people per hectare of Sectors (part 42), 43, 53, and 54 is

another disguised attempt to keep thebuilders happy.

Definitions, as well as rules andregulations for ‘entertainment’, ‘worldtrade’ and ‘fashion hubs’ mentioned inthe Master Plan are not clear.

THE list of builders whobenefitted from the frequentTTchanges in land use also include

Ashok Solomon-owned ChintelGroup—having 396 acres of primeland in Sectors 104, 106, 108, 109and 114 in Gurgaon—Vatika Group,M3M, DLF, Bestech, Pareena Group and Indiabulls Real Estate Limited.Indiabulls Managing DirectorNarendra Gehlaut, an electricalengineer from Delhi College of Engineering and law graduate fromUniversity of Delhi, is the brother-in-law of Deepinder Hooda. Deepinder’swife, Shweta Mirdha, is sister of Congress MP Jyoti Mirdha, who is married to Narendra Gehlaut—son of Krishna Gehlaut, a former HaryanaCongress minister.

Anil and Gautam Bhalla of

Vatika Builders Ltd—having business dealings with Venod Sharma—bought700 acres in R-Zone and turnedbillionaires overnight. Similarly,Ramprastha Group is developingRamprastha City—a group-housingproject for Army Welfare HousingOrganisation (AWHO) in Sector 95,Gurgaon.

All said and done, the worst examples of mis-governance in theHooda’s tenure was how hundreds of acres of fertile land was forcibly acquired from farmers with the helpof police, to develop SEZs in the State.The result was hundred of litigations, which are pending in the Punjab andHaryana High Court. Despite this,Sabeer Bhatia, the founder of Hotmail,decided to withdraw from the Nanocity project after one year of starting itin Panchkula. Likewise, RIL’s 1,383,68acres of aborted SEZ project atGurgaon and 2,000 acres of IndustrialModel Township (IMT) in Ambalawere some of the most embarrassingmoments for the Hooda government.



How Countrywide Promoters (BPTP) created a virtual monopoly in Faridabad & Gurgaon


102 Faridabad 2402 acre

Achivers GH 30.27

Ajay Enterpriese Pvt Ltd RGH 52.83

Ansal Infrastructure COMM (RZ) 1.73

Bhagat Steel & Forging IT Park 5.87

BVM Projects GH 10.38

Cadillac Buildwell GH 41.53

Cadillac Buildwell GH 8.8

Countrywide Promoters Plotted 221.93

1281.62

Acre

53.4 %

Land licenses in

Faridabad



Countrywide Promoters GH 17.97







Countrywide Promoters COMM (RZ) 3.81






Countrywide Promoters GH 10





Countrywide Promoters GH 14






Crown Buildtech COMM (RZ) 1.14 34.48

Crown Infra Build GH 18.05

Crown Technobuild GH 6.98

Crown Technobuild IT Park 8.31

DD Township GH 6.83 123.2

DD Township GH 13.48

DD Township Plotted 102.89

Deva Buildtech GH 10.5

Dove Infrastructure IT Park 8.5

Ferrous Infrastructure Plotted 102.98

GE Maxi Infrastructure COMM (RZ) 3.94GH: Group Housing; RGH: Residential Group Housing; COMM (RZ): Commercial (Residential Zone)



Glowstar Marketing GH 1.5

Gopal Global GH 1.87

GPM Developers GH 4.03

GTV International GH 5.25

Hind Enterprises IT Park 8.97

Iris Plaza GH 5.96

Iris Plaza GH 5.36

Jai Shakti Builders GH 10.1

Larsen & turbo IT Park 9.26

Mahindra Gesco Developers GH 4.94

MB Malls COMM (RZ) 3.69

Monnet Sugar COMM (RZ) 1.37

Nehru Palace Hotels COMM (RZ) 2.609

New Age Town Planners Plotted 50.09

Omaxe Construction GH 32.87 53.37

Omaxe Construction GH 16.25

Omaxe Construction GH 4.25

Pioneer Town Planner Plot (IND) 50.13

Piyush Buildwell GH 17.41

Piyush Coloniser COMM (RZ) 1.35

Piyush Coloniser COMM (RZ) 1.58

Printpak Machinery GH 2.08

Robust Buildwell COMM (CZ) 2.0875

Robust Buildwell (OMAXE) COMM (RZ) 8.571

RPS Infrastructure GH 49.02

RPS Infrastructure IT Park 7.59

RPS Infrastructure Plotted 19.98

RPS International GH 10.15

Shiv Sai Infrastructure GH 10.4

Shiv Sai Infrastructure GH 13.01

Shreeji Buildwell COMM (RZ) 2.143

Smart Housing GH 13.29

SN Realtors GH 11.01

Snow Temp Engg Co IT Park 13.01

SPR Buildtech GH 10.26

Sri Sat Sahib Housing &

Infrastructure

GH 2.74

Sri Sat Sahib Housing and

Infrastructure

GH 11.39

SRS Real Estate GH 15.06





Standard Frams GH 2.37

Swatantra Land & Finance GH 3.12






Tarang Entertainment Pvt Ltd COMM (RZ) 2.08

Triveni Infrastructure

Development

GH 39.68

TriveniFerrous Infrastructure GH 48.04

TriveniFerrous Infrastructure GH 11.71

Tulip Housing GH 1.23

Universal Buildwell GH 10.93

Usha Spinning & Weaving Mills GH 4.79

Vashistha Builders & Engineers

Pvt Ltd

Plot (IND) 52.92

Vipul COMM (RZ) 3.46

Zion Promoters and Developers GH 4.24

ZNR Builders GH 4.02

Total 2402 Acre


594 Gurgaon 8066.53 acre

HS Realty GH 4.078

Magic Info Solutions GH 22.12

Shamrock Infrastructure COMM (RZ) 3.231

Shiva Profins Private Limited GH 11.09

1000 Trees Housing Pvt Ltd RGH 13.08

A & D Estate COMM (CZ) 5.75

46.18 Acre


A & D Estate COMM (CZ) 1


A & D Estate GH 11.42


A & D Estate GH 11.45

Aakansha Infrastructure COMM (RZ) 2.47

Aakarshan Estate Pvt Ltd COMM (RZ) 2.5

Aakarshan Estates GH 15.72

Aakarshan Estates GH 3.518

ABC GH 15.6

ABW Infrastructure GH 13.89

60.07 Acre


ABW Infrastructure COMM (RZ) 3

ABW Infrastructure IT Park 12.45


Active Promoters COMM (RZ) 3.65

Active Promoters IT Park 13.01

Active Promoters COMM (CZ) 5.46

Active Promoters COMM (CZ) 2.65

Aditya Buildwell Plotted 104.91

Adson Software Pvt Ltd RGH 2.66

Afresh Builders COMM (RZ) 2.94

Aggarwal Developers GH 13.01

Airmid Developers Ltd COMM 5.45

Airmid Developers Ltd GH 24.1



Airmid Developers Ltd COMM (RZ) 1.08

Ajay Aggarwal Enterprises COMM (RZ) 2

Ajay Aggarwal Enterprises COMM (RZ) 2

AJS Builders GH 11.01

Alden Developers GH 11.93

ALM Infotech City GH 13.01

ALM Infotech City COMM (RZ) 3.31

Ambience Projects and

Infrastructure

GH 14.819

AMD Estates & Developers (P) COMM (RZ) 2.97

AN Buildwell GH 11.5

Anant Raj Industries Plotted 100.262

Anant Raj Industries Ltd COMM (RZ) 2.95

Anant Raj Industries Ltd COMM (RZ) 2.03

Ananya Land Holdings IT Park 13.55

Anjuman & Estates COMM (RZ) 3.72

Ansal Buildwell COMM (RZ) 2.24

178.63

Acre

Ansal Properties & Infrastructure Plotted 4.38

Ansal Properties & Infrastructure Plotted 1




Ansal Properties & Infrastructure COMM (CZ) 4.24

Ansal Properties & Infrastructure Plot (IND) 13.01

Ansal Properties & Infrastructure Plot (IND) 12.71

Ansal Properties and

Infrastructure

Plotted 2.156

Anurag Sharma COMM (RZ) 3.8125

Anurag Sharma COMM (RZ) 3.8375

Aquarious Buildcon IT Park 10.75

Arrow Infraestate COMM (RZ) 2.03

Ashutosh Developers COMM (RZ) 2.77

Asthetic Township Developers COMM (RZ) 2.85

Athena Infrastructure GH 1

Athene Infrastructure GH 3.256

Atlantic Realtors COMM (RZ) 2.03

Atlantic Realtors IT Park 10.03

Aurochem Buildprop GH 11

Automax COMM (RZ) 2.85

Automax COMM (RZ) 2.22

Bal Prada Info Services COMM (RZ) 2.24

Balvinder Uppal COMM (CZ) 2.98

Barmalt India GH 13.28

Base Exports GH 13.01

Basic Developers Pvt Ltd IT Park 9.67




GH 2.75

154.20

Acre

Bestech India COMM (CZ) 2.8375

Bestech India GH 10.1

Bestech India COMM (RZ) 0.075

Bestech India COMM. (RZ) 3.99






Bestech India IT Park 5.83


Bestech India IT Park 6.31









Bhram Parkash GH 39

Candea Projects COMM (CZ) 5.568

Candeo Projects Pvt Ltd COMM (CZ) 6.77

Celestial Estate COMM (RZ) 3.41

Central Govt Emp. Welfare

Housing Org

GH 14.47

Chintals India GH 19.77




Chintals India Plotted 149.09


Chintals India COMM (RZ) 3.24

Chintals India COMM (RZ) 6.21

Chintels India GH 8.294

Citra Properties COMM (RZ) 5.9

Clarion Properties Pvt Ltd COMM. (RZ) 3.46

Clarion Properties IT Park 5.92

Clarion Properties COMM (RZ) 2.76

Cogent Realtors GH 18.88125

Commander Realtors Plotted 80.447

Commander Realtors Plotted 140.356

Commander Realtors Pvt Ltd COMM (RZ) 3.86

Commander Realtors Pvt Ltd COMM (RZ) 2.2

Consolidate Realtors GH 13.34

Conway Developers GH 13.74

Cosmos Infra GH 14.84



GH 13.01

354.95 4.40 %







Countrywide Promoters COMM (CZ) 4

Countrywide Promoters IT Park 5.02





CSN Estates GH 10.18

CSN Estates (P) Ltd Addl. GH 8.88

CSN Estates (P) Ltd Addl. GH 1.99

Deepanshu Projects GH 14.64

Deputy Gothwal Construction GH 14

Desert Moon Realtech GH 10.44

Desert Moon Realtors Pvt Ltd GH 10.92

Dhampur Alco Chem COMM (RZ) 3.17

Dharampal & others GH 16.47

Dial Soft Tech GH 10.97

DLF GH 13.4

DLF Homes Panchkula Plotted 57.03

DLF Homes Panchkula GH 10.16

DLF Homes Panchkula GH 27.47

DLF Ltd COMM 1.38

DLF Ltd RGH 10.56

DLF New Gurgaon Home

Developers

GH 2.794

DLF New Gurgaon Home

Developers

GH 10.059

DLF New Gurgaon Homes

Developers

Plotted 7.006


Developers

RGH 25.09


Developers

RGH 12.15


Developers

GH 10.8


Developers

GH 14.35


Developers

GH 10


Developers

COMM (RZ) 4


Developers

GH 12.06


54


Developers

GH 0.47


Developers

GH 2.64


Developers

GH 11.1822.57 10.19 %


Developers

GH 0.17


Developers

COMM (RZ) 3.46


Developers

GH 13.73


Developers

GH 18.31


Developers

GH 10.43


Developers

IT Park 6.78


Developers

IT Park 8.36


Developers

COMM (RZ) 3.23


Developers

Plotted 100.51


Developers

COMM (RZ) 3.66


Developers

GH 11.67


Developers

IT Park 6.83


Developers

COMM (RZ) 11.64


Developers

GH 29.66

DLF New Gurgaon Homes Dev's

Pvt Ltd

Addl. Plotted 3.9

DLF Retails Developers COMM (CZ) 25.71

DLF Retails Developers COMM (RZ) 4

DLF Retails Developers COMM (RZ) 8.7

MVL Ltd RGH 5.65



Prayer

Government of India, to come up with a complete report as to how far the NCRPB Act, and the policies formulated there under for the control of land-uses and develop-ment of infrastructure in the National Capital Region so as to avoid any haphazard development of that region and for matters connected therewith or incidental there-to, has been complied with by the respective state gov-ernments, in the present case the Government of Haryana, being a member therein;

Government of India, to inquire into and to come up with details of the environment clearances as sought and granted to those selected few even when blatant viola-tion of environmental laws and ecological disturbances are rampant in area in question and to calculate the damage done to the ecology of the Haryana especially in some of its districts such as Gurgaon, Faridabad, etc.

-ment of Town & Country Planning and Urban Estate and the Department of Forest and other related departments to elicit the consistency of the policies followed as also to unearth the favours given to a select few at the cost of common farmers and state exchequer.

Central Bureau of Investigation, Income Tax Department, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Enforcement Directorate, Economic Offences Wing and others to unearth the ill-gotten money earned by builder mafia of Haryana, select coterie of businessmen and politicians.

builders, who have monopolised the construction activ-ity at the gross disadvantage to poor home buyers and farmers whose land was acquired at unreasonably low prices.

Board to formulate a clear policy of land use keeping various factors in mind such as the equity in acquisition, impact on environment, interest of buyers and those of the farmers whose land is subjected to acquisition.

the cases relating to the above with a clear timeline for investigation by the CBI and the conclusion of the trial by the said court so that it will work as a deterrent for such mass scale loot of natural resources of the State endangering the ecological balance and huge and perpetual loss to the exchequer.

Recently the Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court has passed an order directing the Haryana Government not to issue any colony development licences, change of land use or acquireany lands until its sub-regional planfor the 11 districts falling in theNational Capital Region (NCR) isapproved by the NCR Planning Board. The order assumes significance because the two Master Plans forGurgaon made by the Haryana government in quick succession hadgenerated widespread concern among environmental experts, as they meant significant dilutions in the environmental safeguards provided for in the NCR Planning Boardrecommended plan. Hailing the courtdirection, environment analyst

Chetan Agarwal said it could havesome impact on the upcoming MasterPlan of Mangar Bani and protect theeco-sensitive zones in the area.

“Ideally, the sub-regional plan forthe 11 districts of Haryana fallingunder the NCR should have beenapproved by the NCRPB before themaster plans for Gurgaon were approved. But it did not happen and a lot of eco-sensitive and water rechargezones were lost to haphazard develop-ment planned in the two master plans. The most glaring example being theGhata Lake which had been naturalwater recharge zone, but the master plan allowed residential and commer-cial development there. Any suchdirection by court earlier could haveprevented the messy development.

But it is better late than never.”Colonel (retd) S Oberoi said the

court direction may not have any direct bearing on the development inthe region, but is a moral victory forenvironmentalists. “We have always been maintaining that the sub-region-al plan should have been approvedbefore the Master Plans for Gurgaon were prepared. But it was overlooked by the board. The sub-regional planfor Gurgaon has been submitted to NCRPB just a month ago while themaster plans were approved a longago. Now there are attempts to even dilute the provisions in the NCR Regional Plan-2021 and mould themas per the sub-regional plan and mas-ter plans, though it should be other the way round.” g



In keeping with the ethics of journalism, gfiles sent a questionnaire to each of parties – Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Venod Sharma, Kunal Bhadoo, Kabul Chawla, Anil Bhalla, Arvind Walia and KP Singh. Nobody bothered to reply except for Kabul Chawla, BPTP Chairman & Managing Director. His lawyers replied to the questions and the same is reproduced here. When the questionnaire was brought to his attention, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, it is learnt, he told TC Gupta, Secretary, Town and Country Planning (Haryana) that “it should be ignored... they are just trying to malign me.”

EPLYL BY Y KABUL CY HAWLA’S LAWYEW RSVijay Kaundal Advocate & Solicitor,SRGR LAW OFFICES

ATAA the outset, it is stated that the all the allegations raised are false, frivolous, baseless and factually incorrect and your letter is completely based on pre-

sumption and assumptions. We would like to put it on record that institutional investors like JP Morgan and Citigroup Property Investors have invested in the parent company level (BPTP Limited) after conducting thorough due diligence and our Client has also done joint ventures with well known groups like Blackstone, TMW and Kotak.

Though our Client is not obligated to reply to the frivolous and baseless allegations levelled by you, our Client is still responding to your queries to dispel your doubts and misgivings.

We object to such questionnaire/ scrutiny in the affairs of our Client by your organisation without any proof or evidence and it is apparent that it is being done with ulterior motives.

gfiles: Even though your company was incorporated under the Companies Act on August 11, 2003, you were an unknown and insignificant player in the market till 2005. Your company and its business actually started after March 5, 2005, when Bhupinder Singh Hooda became CM and your luck started changing. Almost overnight in 2005, your



Company started aggressively buying prime land in and around Faridabad. And in just three years, it had acquired licenses to develop 283.88 acres land at unheard-of rock bottom prices of `210 per sq ft in Faridabad. The company starting selling the first of its plots in 2006 and by 2009 it had sold approximately 5,657 residential plots, 10,685 apartments, 463 commercial plots and other commercial space. Is such kind of growth possible by fair dealings and without political backing?BPTP: Except for whatever is a matter of record and which are in public domain rest of all your facts and figures are denied. Further, your allegations regarding any political

backing and support are completely false, baseless, without any substance and are defamatory in nature, and hence are specifically denied. Please note that our Client is conducting its business in accordance with law.

gfiles: It is alleged that you operate a number of subsidiary and shell companies like Countrywide Promoters Pvt Ltd, Countrywide Home and Farms Pvt Ltd, Glitz Builders & Promoters Pvt Ltd, Foliage Construction Pvt Ltd, Five Star Promoters Pvt Ltd, Vital Construction Pvt Ltd, Native Buildcon Pvt Ltd, Green Valley Towers Pvt Ltd, Anupam Towers Pvt Ltd, Sunglow Overseas Pvt Ltd, Druzba Overseas Pvt Ltd, Business Park Promoters Pvt Ltd, Fragrance Construction Pvt Ltd, KA Promoters & Developers Pvt Ltd, Westland Developers Pvt Ltd, Poonam Promoters & Developers Pvt Ltd and Vasundra Promoters Pvt Ltd. The main role of these companies allegedly is financial manipu-lation, land ownership and alleged illegal transfer of land from one company to another without paying registry charges, thus bypassing the provisions of transfer of the Immovable Properties Act?BPTP: It is reiterated once again that, as per the information available in the public domain, it is evident that BPTP Group is composed of various group companies and in compliance with laws. This is to apprise you that all the entities in the said Group have been established for lawful purposes in accordance with the relevant laws. The group structure ensures synergy and realisation of ultimate vision and objectives of the management. BPTP Group has adopted and implemented the best practices in its accounting and financial reporting. The allegations are nothing but based on surmises and conjectures, and thus does not merit any consideration.

gfiles: It is common knowledge that Bhupinder Singh Hooda is one of the most pro-builder and anti-farmer Chief Ministers Haryana has seen in the last couple of decades. But, allegedly the inside story is that Hooda is just a proxy rubber stamp and builders like you are directly or indirectly allegedly dictating land development policies in the State. It is alleged that you influenced the three quick changes in the Master Plans? BPTP: It has to be stated that allegations are baseless and are defamatory in nature. The allegations contained specifi-cally in this query and generally in the letter, attribute your intention not only to harm the reputation of our Client but also to harm the reputation of the office of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana. Moreover, since such grave allegations without any iota of proof have been maliciously levelled



against our Client, our Client reserve our right to initiate appropriate civil and criminal proceedings against you under the relevant provisions of law. Hence, the allegations are specifically denied.

gfiles: It is alleged that BPTP is the biggest beneficiary of the Haryana government’s licensing policies, including the Master Plan changes. After and before each Master Plan change, you went and purchased land in those very sectors that were going to be covered in the Master Plan. How do you explain this? BPTP: The allegations contained are false, baseless and are defamatory in nature, and hence are specifically denied.

gfiles: Here is an example of how government policy is bent in favour of certain people. It is alleged that you and other prominent builders, like DLF, Unitech, Ansals, Vatika Ltd and Suncity Projects, were present in a meeting chaired by BS Hooda in May 2009. Since the Assembly elections were round the corner, the government wanted you and others to announce populist low cost housing schemes. In the bar-gain, Hooda announced a ‘one-time relaxation’ for all those builders who applied for group housing colony as part of their plotted colony, and were prepared to reserve 10 per cent area for low cost housing. This meant that those build-ers who agreed got to build four additional large flats per acre. This is an example of how the low cost housing policy has been manipulated by the politician-builder lobby. The builders have got lands allotted in the name of low cost and affordable housing, but till date not a single apartment is near completion?BPTP: It has to be stated that it is a matter of record that the BPTP Group has applied for licenses for low cost group housing schemes formulated by the government. Please note that such schemes have been framed in accordance with the State policies and such policies were formulated by the state government for the benefit of the poor people. Further, such schemes were available to one and all and it was not specifically designed for the benefit of our Client. It is wrong and baseless to suggest that housing policy has been manipulated by a politician builder lobby, and hence the allegations raised in your query are based on sheer surmises and conjectures and are hereby specifically denied.

gfiles: Another example of how things have been manipu-lated to suit BPTP’s interest is the way the Hooda Government permitted registration of independent floors on residential plots in January 2009. BPTP allegedly took full advantage and re-aligned its business from plotted

housing to independent floors. Your comment?BPTP: It is the prerogative of the State to frame the laws, rules and regulations. It is to bring to your notice that such policies framed by the Government of Haryana are for the benefit of the entire State and its people and are not framed to suit certain section of builders, as alleged in your query. Further, the same is substantiated by the fact that such poli-cies are also available for individuals and same is the matter of record. Further, it is pertinent to bring to your knowledge that such policies are also framed by various other states, namely Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, etc. Hence, it is vehemently denied that Government of Haryana framed policies to suit our Client’s interest. Further, such allegation being defama-tory in nature; our Client reserves its right to initiate appro-priate civil and criminal proceedings against you under the relevant provisions of law.

gfiles: Today, with close to 1,606 acres of land in Faridabad and Gurgaon—Countrywide Promoters or BPTP—is way ahead of even Ansal Properties & Infrastructure or DLF. It is said that BPTP virtually runs a parallel government, at least as far as Faridabad and Gurgaon are concerned. No govern-ment official dares to come in its way. Your comment?



BPTP: The allegations here are specifically denied as they are nothing but based on sheer surmises and conjectures, and are baseless and defamatory in nature. This is to bring to your notice that DLF/Ansal have a nationwide presence and have developed and marketed various projects nation-wide and have much wider stake in real estate market in India compared to our Client.

gfiles: Why is it that despite specific complaints of non-payment of sale price to the owner of a 15-acre land in Sector 106 in Gurgaon, the Haryana TCP renewed the license? Wasn’t it a fact that your company didn’t have pos-session of land and hadn’t begun any construction activity? BPTP: It has to be stated that our Client seeks licenses, only after following due validation process and in accordance with applicable laws. Further BPTP Group is the absolute owner or has valid agreements of all the piece and parcels of land developed or proposed to be developed by BPTP Group and all prior owners of such land are paid the agreed consid-eration for the same and there is no dispute of any manner whatsoever with regard to the same and in many cases our Client has paid more than what was agreed for in the agree-ments. The allegations contained in your query are nothing

but false, malafide and fabrications of true facts, and are specifically denied.

gfiles: It is alleged that Hooda himself is a benami owner of your company, which is currently developing 24 group housing, IT and residential projects in Faridabad and Gurgaon. Is this the reason why the average cost of the company’s land reserve is as low as `188 per sq ft? It is alleged that this unfair advantage is the reason behind your phenomenal success in a relatively short time span, allow-ing you to sell properties at attractive prices? BPTP: The accusations here are extremely defamatory in nature and are specifically denied. Without prejudice to rights and remedies available with our Client to seek appro-priate recourse against such bald frivolous allegations, please note that our Client conducts its normal course of business on an arm’s length basis and fair market terms. Further, being more specific, our Client pays the appropriate consideration to the land owner as mutually agreed and sometimes it pays even higher amount than the sum agreed in the agreement to sell between our Client and land owners. Further, such allegation being highly defamatory in nature; our Client reserves its right to initiate appropriate civil and criminal proceedings against you under the relevant provi-sions of law.

gfiles: Why it is that low cost housing for the poor and downtrodden is just a money minting machine for the builders who, after getting cheap land, connive with the officials to ensure that these projects remain ornamental or showpieces on paper and are never allowed to go beyond the drawing board stage?BPTP: It is denied that our Client has indulged in connivance to thwart the development of affordable housing for the low income groups. It may please be noted that our Client is a responsible real estate group and is conscious of its commit-ment towards the development of affordable housing for the low income groups. The allegations raised in your Query 10 are without any basis, and hence are denied in its entirely.

gfiles: It is alleged that your company has the image of a rogue builder with no sense of ethics and morality in busi-ness? Allegedly you have one of the largest numbers of customer complaints against you for violating official poli-cies and backtracking on commitments. Your comment?BPTP: The allegations are baseless, false and concocted and specifically denied. Kindly note that our Client operates in a manner consistent with high ethical, moral, and legal standards.



gfiles: Is it true that the Patiala House court issued a non-bailable warrant against you and the Delhi Police registered an FIR for criminal breach of trust, cheating, fraud and criminal misappropriation based on a complaint by Suresh Goel, a Kotla-based businessman?BPTP: Please note that the proceedings in the said proceedings has been quashed by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi and presently no such case is pending against our Client or its directors and hence, does not merit any consideration.

gfiles: A number of complaints and cases of cheating, misappropriation and fraud have been lodged against you with EOW and SFIO. Is such conduct to be expected from a prominent builder like you?BPTP: This is to apprise you that no criminal case where any charges have been framed by the court is pending against our Client and/or its promoters. The allegations contained in your query are nothing but based on surmises and conjectures, and thus does not merit any consideration.

gfiles: It is alleged that your Company, after having duped money from thousands of people, is still scot free because of its powerful political connections in Haryana and Delhi?BPTP: The allegations are false, malafide and baseless, and are specifically denied.

gfiles: It is alleged that BPTP has one of the worst track-record of forfeiting / usurping people’s money by cancelling their plot or flat booking on one pretext or another? BPTP: It has to be stated that allegations are nothing but baseless and frivolous and are specifically denied. Kindly note that cancellations, if only, are made in accordance with mutually agreed contractual terms and conditions, and such contractual obligations are accorded sanctity of law. Further, being more specific, such forfeitures are in accordance with law and various judicial pronouncements including that by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. Further, its completely lawful to insert such forfeiture clauses in the relevant contracts. Moreover, just to apprise you of the propriety of forfeiture clauses, kindly note that even Noida Authority has forfeited an amount of `130 crore for not fulfilling certain contractual obligations of the contract executed between our Client and Noida Authority, which goes to show that the forfeiture provisions work both ways.

gfiles: It is alleged that BPTP has been selling properties and plots even without license/ site approval from the town planning department or other land owning bodies? Does

it bother you that you are playing with other people’s life savings? BPTP: It has to be stated that our Client endeavours to com-ply with all the applicable laws for the development and sale of its project, including the stipulations and conditions incor-porated in the licenses for various projects.

gfiles: It is alleged that your company creates an artificial and false hype in the market to lure unsuspecting customers to deposit crores of rupees—even when the number of flats booked is far above your capability to deliver. Your company then arbitrarily changes the booking and sends a demand notice asking the flat buyers to pay the difference for an alternate allotment or else assumes that they are not interested and proceeds to forfeit their booking amount? BPTP: The allegations are nothing but false, malafide and fabrications of true facts, and are specifically denied.

gfiles: It is alleged that BPTP has deliberately kept the flat-buyer agreement and other document very complex—500 odd pages—and, as a result, neither the buyer nor the broker is aware of most of the unfavourable terms at the time of making the investment decision. Is it humanly possible to read the fine print and grasp the legal



implications in a short time?BPTP: The allegations are wrong, baseless and frivolous, and are denied. It is wrong to allege that Flat Buyer’s Agreement and other documents consist of 500 odd pages as it is nothing but fabrication of true facts. It may please be noted that all the documents, including the Flat Buyer’s Agreement are readily available to the customers for inspection, and verification of the project details, broad terms and conditions, etc.; hence there is ample time for them to make a reasoned decision.

gfiles: Why do you make the customers sign an affidavit indemnifying BPTP of any deficiency in services before signing the buyer seller agreement? What purpose does this affidavit serve when it is an unfair contract, hence illegal? BPTP: It is denied that such affidavit and undertakings are illegal on premise of unfair contract and these documents are necessary to ensure that customer’s enjoyment of the property is in accordance with all applicable laws. We would like to bring on record that even our client also submits similar undertakings at times to HUDA/DTCP and other government departments to avail licenses and other approvals.

gfiles: When BPTP often penalises buyers who do not pay money on time, what is the corresponding penalty/compensation payable in case BPTP fails to deliver on time? Why should BPTP also not be accountable for deficiency of services? BPTP: This is to apprise you that our Client is a responsible real estate group and always strive to abide its commitments. However, it is wrong to allege that our Client is not accountable towards its commitments. There are standard terms and conditions incorporated in the Flat Buyers’ Agreement/Booking Forms wherein, for reasons not attributable to our Client, delay penalty is payable to the customers.

gfiles: It is alleged that your company has not been depositing EDC/IDC amounts collected from buyers to HUDA/DTCP? BPTP: The allegations are false and frivolous, and are specifically denied. This is to apprise you that our Client has so far deposited more than Rs 1,000 crore with the concerned authorities towards the EDC/IDC demands.

gfiles: It is alleged that Income Tax officials conducted a search-and-seize operation at 23 premises of BPTP for alleged tax evasion and under-reporting of apartment sales. Your comment?BPTP: It is false, baseless and wrong to allege that any such IT raid was conducted at our Client’s premises for tax eva-sion and under reporting of apartment sales, and hence is specifically denied. This is to apprise you that IT Department carries such routine activities and no adverse order has been passed against our Client. The allegations raised are without any basis, and hence are denied in its entirety.

gfiles: Why did your company outbid DLF, Ansals and Omaxe for a 95-acre commercial-cum-residential plot in Noida for `5,006 crore—the costliest land deal in Indian history—when it really did not intend to keep it and eventually surrendered almost 74 acres back to the Noida Development Authority and retained just 21 acres for launching a commercial project?BPTP: It may please be noted that the bid for the commercial-cum-residential plot in Noida was a genuine transaction, being based on the prevalent market conditions and commercial viability. The facts relating to this transaction is a matter of record and the same is in public domain. However, it is wrong to attribute ill intentions on the part of our Client and hence, you are urged to desist from conjuring up such false and baseless conclusions. g