Chandigarh, April 14 -- The Haryana government has granted sanction to prosecute former Haryana chief minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former IAS officer, Dharam Pal Singh Nagal and two former officials of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), Subhash Chandra Kansal and Bharat Bhushan Taneja, in connection with the 2013 allotment of 14 industrial plots in Panchkula, officials aware of the development said. The allotments were allegedly made in violation of norms to individuals considered close to the former chief minister. After investigating the case for nine years, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had in February sought sanction to prosecute Hooda and three officials. The federal agency will now file a chargesheet against the accused in a trial court at Panchkula. Officials said the state government has also recommended former IAS officer Nagal's case to the central government for grant of sanction to prosecute him under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act. Officials said that central government alone is competent to take a view in PC Act cases where a serving or former IAS officer is indicted. When asked for a comment, Hooda said he has full faith in the judiciary. The CBI had registered a regular case (RC) on May 19, 2016 against Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former chief minister and chairperson of HUDA, Dharam Pal Singh Nagal, former chief administrator, Subhash Chandra Kansal, ex-chief controller of finance, Bharat Bhushan Taneja, former deputy superintendent, 13 beneficiaries of plots and unknown persons. The federal agency had replicated an FIR registered by Haryana State Vigilance Bureau of December 19, 2015 which was transferred to the CBI. It was alleged in the FIR that 14 plots in phase 1 and 2 of Panchkula industrial area were not allotted as per the eligibility criteria for allotment. The CBI RC of May 2016 was registered under sections 120-B, 201, 204, 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 of IPC and section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Investigations revealed that applications for allotment were invited between December 7, 2011 and January 6, 2012 under the estate management procedure (EMP) of 2011. However, the allotment process allegedly deviated from prescribed norms, according to the CBI. The then Chairman, HUDA, kept the file for finalization of allotment criteria with him for a long duration. He misused his official position and changed the allotment criteria on Jan 24, 2012 after the deadline (January 6, 2012) for inviting the applications for the allotment of industrial plots was over, the CBI said in its findings. The investigating agency said the allotment of plots was not made in accordance with the proposed criteria, the allotment criteria was changed after the deadline had lapsed and plots were allotted to ineligible applicants in a wrongful manner. The CBI said the then Chairman, HUDA and his office should have rectified the irregularities but instead of rectification, they have misused the official position and capacity and allotted the industrial plots in collusion with allottees on amount lesser than the prevailing market rates. While the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had on February 18, 2021 filed a prosecution complaint (akin to a charge-sheet) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in a special court against Hooda and others, the CBI took another five years to seek sanction to prosecute the former CM for the predicate offences registered under IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act. The special PMLA court in Panchkula on May 15, 2024 paused the trial in the money laundering case till the CBI submitted the chargesheet in the case. "In the firm opinion of this court, there is no point in moving ahead with the proceedings of the present case and the same are required to be paused till the submission of the final report in the predicate offence for the simple reason that the proceedings of the present case are dependent upon the outcome of the investigation of the predicate offence," special PMLA judge Rajeev Goyal had said in his May 2024 order. However, the trial in the money laundering case will resume now....