National Herald case: Haryana CM Khattar rules out political vendetta behind action against Bhupinder Hooda

A day after the Haryana Vigilance Department registered an FIR against former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for his alleged involvement in the National Herald case, incumbent Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday ruled out political vendetta behind the move, adding action will be taken against all wrongdoers.

"The Vigilance Department is performing its duty. We do not interfere in the working of the departments. Every department has got the freedom to perform its duties. They found that there is something wrong (against Hooda) and, therefore, they have registered an FIR. Action will be taken against anyone, who has done wrong," Khattar said. 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., which published the newspaper at Panchkula in 2005.

The Congress leader has been charged with cheating and breach of trust under the Indian Penal Code and also criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy had earlier accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party 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 Ltd. had owed to the Congress Party.

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