Ex-IAS officer Murari Lal Tayal: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets of ex-IAS officer Murari Lal Tayal, who was also the principal secretary to the then-CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, in connection with the Manesar land deal case.  ED attached two houses, seven apartments and a bank account with a balance of Rs 14.06 crore under the PMLA. The properties are located in New Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh. 

The action was taken on June 30, but the announcement was made by the agency on July 7. “ED, Chandigarh has provisionally attached assets in the form of nine immovable properties including two houses and seven apartments located in Chandigarh, New Delhi & Gurgaon, and bank balances of Rs. 14.06 Crore (approx.) on 30/06/2025 under the PMLA, 2002 in connection with ongoing investigation against M.L. Tayal (Retd. IAS) and others in the matter of disproportionate assets while serving as Principal Secretary to the then Chief Minister of Haryana and Member in Competition Commission of India,” the agency wrote on X (formerly Twitter). 

Who is ex-IAS officer Murari Lal Tayal?

Murari Lal Tayal is a retired IAS officer from the 1976 batch of Haryana cadre. He served as the principal secretary to the then-CM and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda from November 2005 till his superannuation in October 2009.

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He was then appointed by the UPA government as a member of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). He served as a member for five years, from January 2006 to December 2014. 

The ex-IAS officer is married to Savita Tayal, and they have a son, Kartik Tayal and a daughter, Malvika Tayal. Savita served as the principal of a government college until her retirement in 2012. She was also appointed as a member of the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) and retired in 2016. 

Manesar land deal case: What has happened?

In 2004, when Hooda was the CM of Haryana, the government issued a notification to acquire around 912 acres of land from farmers in Manesar and neighbouring villages, citing a public project. 

Since compulsory acquisition was mentioned, builders and agents coaxed farmers to sell their land at very low prices by instilling fear that they would incur greater losses if the government acquired it. Through this tactic, they managed to purchase around 400 acres from the farmers.

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Almost three years later, in 2007, the government released these lands from acquisition. However, instead of returning them to their rightful owners, it was given to the builders and their companies who had already purchased them at cheaper prices. 

As per reports, the market value of the land was about Rs 1,600 crore, but the land was acquired from the farmers for just Rs 100 crore. 

After the farmers realised that they had incurred losses, they filed complaints. In 2015, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR regarding alleged irregularities related to land acquisition in Manesar and named Hooda and others in the case. 

The investigating agency registered a second FIR in 2017 against Tayal, pertaining to his alleged disproportionate assets, which formed the basis for the ED’s money laundering case.

In 2018, the Supreme Court cancelled the acquisition, restored the land to the Haryana government, and ordered an investigation into the case. 

ED had taken over the investigation in the case based on the FIRs registered by the CBI. In its FIR, CBI alleged that Tayal has amassed assets disproportionate to almost 81.11 per cent known sources of income. ED parallely launched an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, based on the CBI’s FIR.