INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
One of the most luxurious hotels in India, Laxmi Vilas Palace in Udaipur was sold by the Atal Bihari Vajpayeegovernment at a loss of Rs 244
crore to Bharat Hotels Ltd in 2002, the CBI court said on Thursday.The court has directed the investigating agency to file an FIR against
Arun Shourie, who was the disinvestment minister in the Vajpayee government, for corruption in the sale of the luxury hotel.The court
registration of FIRs against former bureaucrat Pradeep Baijal, Ashish Guha, the managing director of Lazard India Ltd who was the financial
adviser, valuer Kantilal Karamsey of Kantilal Karamsey - Company and Jyotsana Suri, director of Bharat Hotels Ltd.Meanwhile, the district
magistrate of Udaipur has been directed to seize Laxmi Vilas Palace
Vajpayee government's disinvestment ministry, led by Arun Shourie at the time, sold Laxmi Vilas Palace in 2002 to the Lalit Group for only
The deal at the time had come as a huge surprise to locals as it is a prime property.However, the matter remained under wraps as the
subsequent UPA governments did not investigate the matter.Suddenly, on August 13, 2014, the CBI registered a case based on an input that
some unknown officers from the Department of Disinvestment, in connivance with a private hotelier during 1999-2002 renovated and then sold
Laxmi Vilas Palace at a throwaway price.After the investigation, the agency filed a closure report saying that nothing was found.But the
court refused to accept it
The court said that the CBI has found that the value of the land was at least Rs 151 crore and the sale is only worth Rs 7.5 crore, so how
can CBI say that nothing was found.The CBI court in Jodhpur ordered the CBI to re-investigate the case, but the CBI once again filed a
closure report.Angry at this, the court reprimanded the CBI and questioned its role
On August 13, 2019, the central probe agency was again directed to investigate the matter.The third time around, the CBI found corruption
In its report to the court, the investigating agency said that the property was worth Rs 252 crore but was sold at Rs 7.5 crore, causing a
loss of Rs 244 crore to the exchequer.On Thursday, the court criticised the CBI for filing a closure report despite finding in its
preliminary inquiry that the property was sold wrongly
The judge said this was deplorable
He said the entire country looks up to the CBI as a prestigious agency.Appointing the district magistrate as the receiver of the property,
the judge said he would produce a report on its movable and immovable assets within three months.He will also arrange that the hotel is run
by a central government institution with experience in this industry.The accounts will be submitted to the court on a quarterly basis, the
judge directed.The court said those engaged in the disinvestment process were IAS officers and not expected to have no idea about the worth
of property like this in a city like Udaipur.The preliminary investigation validated the accusations and revealed that Pradip Baijal abused
his position, entering into a conspiracy with Guha, Karamsey and Bharat Hotels Limited, the court said.Kantilal Karamsey - Company valued
the land at just Rs 45 per square feet against the going rate of Rs 500-1000 per square feet then for commercial plots, it said, citing the
preliminary report.It said Shourie and Baijal took the decision to appoint the valuers.(With inputs from PTI)
