The Delhi High Court has sought a response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over a petition demanding a probe into alleged corruption and financial misconduct in the operations of a shopping mall project in West Delhi.
The court has also been urged to direct registration of an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act and other penal laws. Justice Girish Kathpalia, hearing the matter on April 30, issued a notice to the CBI and listed the next hearing for May 27. The plea, filed by a petitioner through senior advocate Vikas Pahwa and lawyer Gaurav Gupta, alleges a multi-crore land scam involving real estate developers, government officials, corporate tenants, and sub-registrars. According to the plea, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had originally granted a perpetual lease for a 6,085 sq-metre commercial plot in 2007. However, due to non-payment of dues exceeding ₹25 crore—including ground rent and conversion charges—the DDA terminated the lease in January 2020.
Despite the termination, the petitioner claims that unauthorised operations continued on the land through shell companies linked to the original real estate firm. The plea further alleges that third-party interests were unlawfully created on the cancelled property, defrauding the public exchequer and violating the lease termination order. The petition calls the situation a “land scam” and claims that the unauthorised activities and financial irregularities have resulted in a loss of over ₹100 crore in public revenue. It has requested a thorough CBI investigation to expose the alleged collusion between private entities and government officials. The matter raises broader concerns about transparency and enforcement in Delhi’s real estate and commercial development sectors, especially where public land is leased to private developers. The petition argues that without a central investigation, the full scale of the alleged fraud may remain hidden and accountability will be difficult to establish.
The High Court’s intervention marks a critical step in what could become a significant urban corruption case, highlighting the need for stricter regulatory oversight and legal scrutiny in city development projects.
