ED attaches Rs 300-cr land of M3M realty group in Gurugram

Gurugram, July 19

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties, spanning 88.29 acres and valued at Rs 300.11 crore, belonging to M3M India Infrastructures Private Limited under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The properties attached are in the form of land parcels located at Basharia village in Gurugram.

Hooda one of the accused

• The action is based on an FIR registered by the CBI that accuses former CM leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, then DTCP Director Trilok Chand Gupta, RS Infrastructure Private Limited (RSIPL) and 14 other colonisers of cheating landowners and the state exchequer through acquisition of land at a price lower than the prevailing one
• Also, the investigation revealed that the licences were illegally obtained for the land that resulted in generation of proceeds of Rs 300.15 crore, which were subsequently diverted from RSIPL to bank accounts of its promoters and their family members

According to the ED, they initiated action on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various Sections of the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act against then CM Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, then DTCP Director Trilok Chand Gupta, RS Infrastructure Private Limited and 14 other colonisers. They were accused of cheating landowners, the public at large and the state of Haryana/HUDA by getting issued notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894

(LA Act), and subsequently Section 6 of the Act for the acquisition of land which compelled owners to

sell their land to said colonisers at a price lower than the prevailing price before the notification.

The investigation revealed that the accused fraudulently obtained letter of intents/licences on the notified land, causing loss to the landowners and state exchequer. The ED investigation revealed that RS Infrastructure Private Limited (RSIPL), a company owned by Basant Bansal and Roop Bansal, promoters of M3M group, colluded with the persons mentioned in the FIR and unlawfully got approved licences for 10.35 acres for establishing a commercial colony by classifying their case as “a case of extreme hardship” without a legal basis.

The promoters of RSIPL did not fulfil the condition of developing a commercial colony upon securing the licences. Later on, they sold the company’s shares and assets, including the said licensed land for a staggering Rs 726 crore to Lowe Realty Private Limited, an associated entity of Religare Group. This fraudulent activity of obtaining the licences illegally resulted in the generation of proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 300.15 crore, which were subsequently diverted from RSIPL to bank accounts of its promoters and their family members.