PRASHANT BHUSHAN under government scanner in Himachal Pradesh

Dharamsala, March 2, 2013:  Another land deal is under probe, this time the noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan is under government scanner in Himachal Pradesh.

Previous government had allowed Bhusan to purchase land near Palampur in Kangra district. The state government is in wait of the report of the DC, Kangra, the revenue head of the area.

Reacting on this sensitive issue, the Revenue Minister Kaul Singh said," As on the face of it, the permission granted to Prashant Bhushan is questionable. We have sent 11 queries to the deputy commissioner concerned. Government would act on the basis of the deputy commissioner's report."

Aam Aadmi Party leader Bhushan's Kumud Bhushan Educational Society was allowed to purchase 4.68 hectare land meant for a tea plantation by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Prem Kumar Dhumal led  government.

According to the state's laws, land-use of a tea garden could not be changed as these are exempted under the ceiling act.

It was alleged that the land, worth several crores of rupees in Palampur was given to the educational society for just a few lakh rupees, in March 2010.

Koul sigh  said that the government in fact has decided to probe all land deals, where it suspects that there is a violation of Section 118 of the Land Reforms and Tenancy Act and Land Ceiling Act during the BJP regime.

The land in question at Palampur is the second land probe took out by Vir Bhadra Government just after taking back possession of a prime land allotted to Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev in Sadhupul in Solan district.