The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the Panchkula industrial plot allotment case.The charges included criminal conspiracy and cheating (Section 120-B read with Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code), along with criminal misconduct by a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act (Section 13(2) read with Sections 13(1)(c) and 13(1)(d)), alleging fraudulent misappropriation and obtaining pecuniary advantage for self or others.The CBI Special Court on Tuesday noted that prosecution sanction against Hooda and BB Taneja, former Deputy Superintendent of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (now Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran), had been received.Sanction under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) against retired IAS officer DPS Nagal, then Chief Administrator of HUDA, has also been received. However, sanction under Section 19 of the PC Act is still awaited. Similarly, prosecution sanction against former Chief Controller of Finance in HUDA, SC Kansal, is pending, the court observed.A writ petition titled SK Jain vs State of Haryana was filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2014, challenging the allotment of industrial plots.During the pendency of the petition, the State Vigilance Bureau, Haryana (now the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau), registered an FIR on December 19, 2015, against Hooda, Nagal, Kansal, Taneja and plot allottees.The case was later handed over to the CBI, which registered its FIR on May 19, 2016. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also registered an ECIR and filed a chargesheet on February 15, 2021, against Hooda and others.However, on May 15, 2024, a Special Court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act paused proceedings in the ED case until the CBI submitted its final report. With the challan now filed, the ED case is expected to resume.Hooda, as Chief Minister, was the chairman of HUDA at the time of the allotment process. Applications for 14 industrial plots were invited between December 7, 2011, and January 6, 2012. However, on January 24, 2012, after the application deadline had passed, the selection criteria were allegedly changed. The weightage for experience, qualification and financial capability was reduced, while marks for viva voce were increased. As per the ED, plots worth Rs 30.34 crore were allotted at Rs 7.85 crore, causing significant loss to the exchequer. There were 582 applicants for the 14 plots.According to the State Vigilance Bureau’s FIR, Taneja, responsible for scrutinising the applications and preparing a comparative list for the selection committee, failed to do so and instead submitted a list of only 13 applicants. It alleged that several applications had serious discrepancies, yet senior officials overlooked them and, through collusion, allotted plots to associates and political favourites.The FIR also stated that signatures on evaluation sheets were obtained six months after the interviews, and some members’ signatures were missing. Files were also found missing from the HUDA office during the investigation.It further alleged that the interview process was not conducted by a duly constituted competent committee, as required under HUDA regulations, nor was such a committee properly formed by Nagal. Linking the allottees to Hooda, the ED claimed that several beneficiaries had personal or political connections to him.These included individuals from his native village Sanghi, relatives of associates, and those linked to Congress functionaries and former officials.The ED further alleged connections between other allottees and political or personal associates of Hooda, including former legislators, officials and acquaintances.