National Herald case: Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda booked by Vigilance Department

The Haryana Vigilance Department on Saturday registered an FIR against former state chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for his alleged involvement in the National Herald case.

Hooda, who as the chief minister was the ex-officio chairman of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), has been accused of illegally transferring land to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), which published the newspaper, at Panchkula in 2005.

Hooda has been charged with cheating and breach of trust under the Indian Penal Code and also criminal misconduct under Prevention of Corruption Act.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy had accused the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs. 50 lakh, by which Young Indian (YI) obtained the rights to recover Rs 90.25 crore which the Associated Journals Limited (AJL) had owed to the Congress Party.

Swamy had earlier alleged that over Rs. 2,000 crore worth of assets also got transferred to YI, whose 76 percent of shareholding is with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, while the remaining 24 percent shareholding is with the other accused.