ED Attaches 401.65 Acres of Land Worth Rs 834.03 Crore Belonging to Emaar India and MGF Developments

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken action by attaching immovable properties covering 401.65479 acres, with a total value of Rs. 834.03 crore, belonging to EMAAR India Ltd and MGF Developments Ltd, according to an official statement released on Thursday.

Among these assets, EMAAR India Ltd’s properties are valued at approximately Rs 501.13 crore, while those of MGF Developments Ltd are valued at around Rs 332.69 crore.

These properties, which consist of land, are located in 20 villages across Haryana’s Gurugram district and in Delhi. The attachment was carried out by the ED’s Delhi-based unit.

The ED’s investigation centers around alleged money laundering activities linked to license no. 97/2010, dated September 18, 2010, which was issued by the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) for a Residential Plotted Colony in sectors 65 and 66 of Gurgaon.

The investigation was initiated based on an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

This FIR targeted Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the then Chief Minister of Haryana, Trilok Chand Gupta, then Director of DTCP, EMAAR MGF Land Limited, and 14 other colonizer companies.

The case involves allegations of cheating landowners, the public, and the state of Haryana, as well as the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

The allegations include issuing notifications under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and subsequently under section 6 of the same Act, which coerced landowners to sell their land to these colonizer companies at prices lower than the market rate before the notification under section 4.

The ED further alleges that the accused fraudulently and dishonestly obtained Letters of Intent (LOIs) and licenses on the notified land, thereby causing financial losses to the landowners, the public, and the state of Haryana, while unlawfully benefiting themselves.

According to the ED, on June 2, 2009, the Haryana government issued a notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, covering 1417.07 acres of land, which included sectors 58 to 63 and sectors 65 to 67 of Gurugram.

Subsequently, on May 31, 2010, a notification under section 6 was imposed on approximately 850.10 acres of this land. During the period from June 2, 2009, to May 31, 2010, nearly 600 acres were released from acquisition proceedings by the Haryana government, facilitating the grant of LOIs and licenses.

On April 22, 2009, EMAAR MGF Land Limited, a joint venture between EMAAR Properties PJSC, Dubai, and MGF Developments Limited, submitted an LC-1 application for a license to develop a residential plotted colony on 112.46 acres of land in sectors 65 and 66 of Gurugram.

Land measuring 70.406 acres, which was initially notified under section 4, was subsequently released from acquisition proceedings by the DTCP, and an LOI for 108.006 acres was granted to the company on May 31, 2010, after receiving internal approval from the Haryana government.

The ED states that license no. 97/2010 was eventually granted to EMAAR MGF Land Limited on November 18, 2019.

The ED’s investigation revealed that EMAAR MGF Land Limited executed six backdated development agreements with farmers for 27.306 acres of land. Although these agreements were falsely claimed to have been executed in April 2009, they were signed in March 2010.

The investigation further exposed that these collaboration agreements were backdated and fabricated, and were falsely represented as having been entered into before the notification under section 4 was issued, to avoid complications in obtaining the license from the DTCP.

As a result, EMAAR MGF Land Limited generated proceeds of crime in the form of a license on 25.887 acres of land, which is currently valued at Rs 1229.17 crore.

The investigation also revealed that the actual intent behind the land acquisition was never to benefit HUDA. Instead, it was a scheme designed to coerce farmers into selling their land to developers under the guise of agreements, driven by the looming threat of acquisition proceedings.

Later, EMAAR MGF Land Limited was split into EMAAR India Limited and MGF Developments Limited, holding 60.11 percent and 39.89 percent shares, respectively, in the combined properties.

Consequently, the ED has provisionally attached immovable properties valued at Rs 501.13 crore corresponding to EMAAR India Ltd’s 60.11 percent share of the remaining proceeds of crime (PoC), and Rs 332.69 crore corresponding to MGF Developments Ltd’s 39.89 percent share of the remaining PoC.