By IANS
Bhopal : Former Madhya Pradesh minister Vishnu Rajoria said Wednesday he would move the high court against the state Lokayukta (ombudsman) order that held him guilty of allotting a State Housing Board bungalow to a doctor at a throwaway price.
The special court of the ombudsman Tuesday held the former housing and environment minister guilty of directing the Madhya Pradesh Housing Board (MPHB) to allot the bungalow in Indore to K.C. Sharma in 1988.
Sharma purchased a plot adjacent to Ajit Jogi’s plot at Sanjay Upvan in Indore in 1982. Later, Sharma found that Jogi, who later became chief minister of Chhattisgarh, had encroached upon his plot.
He moved the Indore bench of the high court, following which Rajoria offered an out of court settlement. He directed the MPHB to allot a bungalow to the medical practitioner in another locality.
The MPHB then allotted him a bungalow for Rs.275,000 though its original cost was Rs.500,000 and market value over Rs.1 million.
The Special Police Establishment (SPE) investigations found that the bungalow was sold to him by waving off capital interest and supervision charges. Criminal proceedings were started against then minister Rajoria, board chairperson Memuna Sultan and commissioner Mukteshwar Singh.
The Lokayukta registered a complaint after taking cognisance of reports published in newspapers.
Memuna died March 16, 2006 and Mukteshwar Singh was absolved of all charges. Rajoria was found guilty in the matter.
Rajoria told IANS that the dispute over a plot allotted to K.C. Sharma was due to the fault of the Madhya Pradesh Housing Board (MPHB) employees and officials.
“And to settle the dispute, the bungalow was allotted to Sharma against the plot by the then MPHB chairperson Memuna Sultan and no directives were issued by me,” he said.