ED Seizes Rs 834 Cr In Assets Linked To Hooda, EMAAR-MGF Ahead Of Haryana Polls

The case accuses EMAAR-MGF, along with Hooda and DTCP Director Trilok Chand Gupta, of acquiring land at prices below market value, causing substantial losses to the public and the government.

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized assets worth Rs 834 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case involving ex-Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and EMAAR-MGF. According to ABP News, the attached properties are located in 20 villages near Delhi and Gurugram. The case accuses EMAAR-MGF of colluding with Hooda and DTCP Director Trilok Chand Gupta to purchase land at below-market values, causing substantial losses to the public and the government. Hooda allegedly coerced farmers into selling their land to developers by exploiting the threat of acquisition. The ED action comes ahead ahead of the Haryana assembly elections to be held on October 1.

The federal agency has provisionally attached immovable properties totaling 401.65479 acres, valued at Rs 501.13 crore for M/s EMAAR India Ltd. and Rs 332.69 crore for M/s MGF Developments Ltd. These lands are located in 20 villages within the Gurugram District, Haryana, and Delhi. The investigation is probing money laundering allegations connected to a plotted colony in Sectors 65 and 66 of Gurgaon, involving both companies.

The ED launched the investigation following a CBI FIR filed under various sections of the IPC, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The FIR lists Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the then Chief Minister of Haryana, Trilok Chand Gupta, the then Director of DTCP, M/s EMAAR MGF Land Limited, and 14 other colonizer firms.

The case alleges cheating of landowners, the public, and the state of Haryana/HUDA. The accused reportedly issued notifications under Section 4, followed by Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, to acquire land at rates much lower than market value prior to the notifications. They are suspected of deceitfully acquiring Letters of Intent (LOIs) or licenses for the acquired land, resulting in financial losses to the landowners and the state, while illicitly profiting themselves.

The ED investigation revealed that M/S EMAAR MGF Land Limited had executed six backdated development agreements with farmers for 27.306 acres of land. These agreements were incorrectly dated April 2009 but were actually signed in March 2010. The probe also found that these collaboration agreements were contrived to seem as though they were made prior to the Section 4 notification of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, to bypass difficulties in obtaining licenses from the DTCP.

Consequently, M/s EMAAR MGF Land Limited obtained licenses for 25.887 acres of land with a current value of Rs 1,229.17 crore.