Supreme Court Issues Notice On CBI Plea Against Hooda, AJL Clean Chit In Panchkula Land Case

The bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma sought responses from the respondents and listed the matter for further hearing in July.

“Issue notice, returnable in the month of July, 2026,” the Bench ordered. 

Appearing for the CBI, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju urged the Court to examine the High Court’s ruling, which had upheld the legality of the land re-allotment.

AoR Mukesh Kumar Maroria along with Advocates Zoheb Hossain, Annam Venkatesh, Sairica S Raju, Astha Singh, and Aman Mehta, also appeared for the CBI. 

By its order dated February 25, the High Court had held that the re-allotment of the Panchkula plot to AJL was valid and had neither been declared illegal nor cancelled. It further observed that the CBI could not unilaterally term the re-allotment illegal, questioning the authority of an investigating agency to draw such conclusions.

According to the CBI, a plot was originally allotted to AJL in 1982 by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) on a ‘no profit, no loss’ basis. However, after no construction was undertaken for a decade, HUDA resumed possession of the land.

The agency alleged that in 2005, then Chief Minister Hooda recommended restoration of the same plot to AJL at the original allotment price, along with applicable interest. The proposal was subsequently placed before the HUDA Authority.

While certain officials had initially raised concerns suggesting that the plot be re-allotted at market price or through a transparent process, the final approval was granted without recording any objections during the Authority’s meeting, the CBI claimed. The agency has alleged that Hooda, along with late Congress leader Motilal Vohra and AJL, entered into a criminal conspiracy to secure the re-allotment, causing wrongful loss to the public exchequer and corresponding gain to the beneficiaries.

After the High Court’s verdict, a CBI Special Court in Haryana on March 27 closed the case against Hooda and AJL. A PMLA Special Court subsequently shut the ED’s money laundering case linked to the Panchkula plot re-allotment.

The ED had alleged that AJL acquired the plot at a concessional rate of Rs. 59.39 lakh (1982 valuation) and later secured loans worth Rs. 72.57 crore by presenting it as untainted property. These funds were allegedly used to create additional assets through pledging and mortgage. The plot: C-17, Sector 6, Panchkula, was originally allotted to AJL for a newspaper on a no-profit, no-loss basis at Rs. 91 per sq metre. It was resumed in 1996 after no construction took place and all appeals failed. In 2005, during Hooda’s tenure as Chief Minister, the plot was re-allotted at the original rates, which the ED claimed led to a loss of Rs. 1.75 crore to the state exchequer.

In April 2021, a special court had framed charges against the accused under provisions of the Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy and cheating, as well as under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.