Days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed charge-sheet against Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Manesar land deal case, the Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said the former CM is facing consequences of his actions in the past.

“Gita, the holy book of knowledge and wisdom, says ‘jaisa karm karo gey, waisa he phal paogey’ (as you sow so shall you reap),” Khattar said while  responding to a query of media persons in Bhiwani and Rohtak on Sunday regarding filing of the charge-sheet by the CBI against Hooda.

He said that CBI had registered a case and filed charge-sheet only on the basis of solid evidence. “Earlier, the accused were ready to undergo any kind of investigation but now that the CBI has moved into the matter, they are crying vendetta. Those who have done wrong would certainly get punished. According to our Constitution, be it small or big, all are equal before the law,” Khattar said. The Central probing agency on Friday submitted 8000-page charge sheet before the special CBI Court located in Panchkula against Hooda and 33 others including government officials who were then posted in Haryana CM office and state’s Town and Country Planning Department during the previous government.

It was alleged that the nearly 400 acres of prime land in Manesar, Naurangpur and Pakhnoula in Gurgram, under a well-planned conspiracy with some bureaucrats were acquired on throw away prices from the farmers and land owners projecting threat of acquisition by the government, during the period August 27, 2004 to August 24, 2007.

During the Hooda-led Congress regime in Haryana, the state government had issued a notification for acquisition of land measuring about 912 acres for setting up of an Industrial Model Township (IMT) in these villages.Fearing which, the farmers and villagers allegedly sold off nearly 400 acres of land to the accused builders at throwaway prices between the mentioned period.  It was alleged that market value of the land was about Rs 1,600 Crore but it was purchased by the private builders for only about Rs 100 Crore.

Meanwhile, in reply to a question on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, Khattar said the previous governments did not do anything on this issue in the last 12 years. “We requested the Supreme Court to list the matter for hearing at the earliest and the verdict came out in favour of Haryana. We are hopeful that the Central Government would soon initiate construction of the SYL in Punjab,” the CM said.