CBI lodges case in Indore Mall ‘irregularities’, names Digvijaya Singh

The FIR was registered on the orders of Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which had directed it to probe the “roles of senior officials, the then CM, chief secretary, and environment minister”, among others.

According to the CBI, the case pertains to allegations that the mall was illegally built on a residential plot of one lakh sq ft, with undue concessions from the then state government under Singh. In its order on October 19, Division Bench of Justices P K Jaisawal and Moolchand Garg directed the CBI to probe into the matter and report in six months.

The Bench gave the direction on a plea by social activist Mahesh Garg who had filed a complaint with the state Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in 2009 which had given a clean-chit to Singh.

Soon after the court order, Singh had welcomed the probe and posted on Twitter that “permission was given for it (mall) during my tenure as chief minister. The BJP government’s Economic Offences Wing has already investigated the matter and found nothing against me”.

The EOW had filed FIR against Entertainment World Developers Pvt Ltd, which constructed ‘Treasure Island’ mall in a joint venture with Madhya Pradesh Housing Board in 2002, and probed the role of 12 accused officials and ministers, including Singh. It filed a closure report giving

... contd.