India: Court dismisses petition against Chief Minister Raman Singh

Court dismisses petition against Chief Minister Raman Singh

The Hindu

4 August 2013

A local court has dismissed a petition against Chief Minister Raman Singh as well as others seeking registration of an offence and investigation into a land allotted allegedly at throwaway prices to BALCO (Bharat Aluminum Company Ltd) in Korba district of Chhattisgarh.

The court of the first additional district and sessions judge N.D. Tigala delivered the order on Saturday dismissing the petition filed by senior Congress leader and former minister Bhupesh Baghel against Raman Singh, former chief secretary P. Joy Oommen and the then BALCO chief executive officer (CEO), Gunjan Gupta for allegedly entering into a conspiracy to allot land at throwaway prices.

Mr. Baghel, who is now the programme co-ordinator of state Congress, has alleged in his complaint that Mr. Singh conspired with Gupta and Oommen and cleared files to allot the land, causing a loss of Rs 140 crore [USD 23 million-ed] to the exchequer.

Welcoming the court's order, BJP claimed that Mr. Baghel has been exposed in court that he had raised baseless allegations on the BALCO land allocation issue.

"Bhupesh Baghel has been exposed for taking the case to the court for political mileage and he has failed in his attempt to malign Chief Minister Raman Singh," BJP spokesperson Ajay Chandrakar said in a statement in Raipur.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Congress spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said that the Congress would take the issue to the high court.