Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 8: The High Court today directed for trial against the then Managing Director J&K Cooperative Housing Corporation Limited for hatching conspiracy with other officers of the Corporation and purchasing the land on exorbitant rates for construction of a housing colony in Srinagar.
The Division Bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Rajesh Sekhri directed the challan, in the FIR in which the then MD of Corporation Brij Bhushan Sharma is one of the accused, be sent back to Special Judge Anti Corruption Srinagar.
“The challan, which is now pending before the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, shall be sent back to the Court of Special Judge Anti-Corruption, Srinagar, to be tried in accordance with law for the charges framed against all the accused including the writ petitioner-Sharma”, the DB directed.
The DB said the entire modus operandi used by Sharma in conspiracy with other accused was to cause wrongful loss to the Housing Corporation, which had obtained a huge amount to meet its needs from HUDCO, and to cause wrongful benefit to themselves.
A big chunk of land which was purchased by the Housing Corporation for establishing a residential colony in Humhama was owned and possessed by a single owner, Sofi Mohammad Hussain. The Housing Corporation through its accused Managing Director court added, could have directly negotiated the deal for purchase of the land with the land owner.
It has also come on record during investigation that the deal in respect of the land was settled with the owner at the rate of 1.8 lakh per kanal but the petitioner-Sharma along with other accused, acting in furtherance of criminal intention with the conspiracy put up a middleman who obtained power of attorney from the land owners and sold the land in pieces to the Housing Corporation at the rate of Rs 4.00 lakhs per kanal way back in the year 1999.
“To come to a conclusion that there is ground for presuming that the accused has committed an offence, it is sufficient for the Court to conclude that there is prima facie material and evidence available on record, which would require the accused to be put on trial”, read the judgment.
As per the FIR No.35/2005 was registered in the Police Station, Vigilance Organization, Kashmir with the allegation that in the year 1999, office bearers of J&K Cooperative Housing Corporation Limited, Jammu and others hatched a criminal conspiracy to embezzle public money by resorting to illegal means and abusing their official position and that with a view to achieving the object and in furtherance of this conspiracy, a big chunk of land was purchased by the Housing Corporation through attorney holder instead of purchasing the same directly from the land owners.
Investigation revealed that a huge amount to be paid to the land owners was also found deposited by the suspect in the J&K State Cooperative Bank, Srinagar opened in the name of one Mohammad Yousuf Dar of Baghat-e-Barzulla, Srinagar.
The investigation further revealed that in and around July, 1998, one Mohammad Shafi Dar, who was the then Chairman, Cooperative Housing Building Society, Budgam and Mohammad Yousuf Kuchay initiated a process to purchase land measuring 200 kanals at Humhama for developing a residential colony.
The duo approached one Sofi Mohammad Hussain, who owned a big chunk of land in the area. The land measuring 139.18 kanals was settled to be sold @ 1.87 lakhs per kanal and an advance payment of Rs 12.20 lakhs was made to the land owner Sofi Mohammad Hussain through cheques. It came out in the investigation that the land owner insisted for payment of total consideration in one go, however, the accused were not in a position to pay the entire sale consideration in one go.
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