According to the ED, Mr. Rajaduri ng his tenure as the Union Minister of Environment & Forests from 2004 to 2007 , had granted environmental clearances to a real-estate company, based out of Gurugram. It is one of the largest real estate companies in the country, also listed on the
A Raja, who was union environment and forest minister between 2004 and 2007, was charge-sheeted by the CBI on August 2022 in a disproportionate asset case worth Rs 5.53 crore for allegedly granting infrastructure status to a real estate firm that was planning to build a hotel in Kancheepuram during his ministerial tenure in 2007.
According to the ED, Mr. Raja — during his tenure as the Union Minister of Environment & Forests from 2004 to 2007 — had granted environmental clearances to a real-estate company, based out of Gurugram. It is one of the largest real estate companies in the country, also listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, it said.
The real estate firm allegedly paid the money to Kovai Shelters Promoters, a firm owned by a close aide of Raja, as commission for the purchase of land in Kancheepuram. It was alleged that Kovai Shelters brought the Coimbatore land for developing it into standalone plots.
According to ED, the probe under Prevention of Money Laundering Act found that Raja incorporated the company, Kovai Shelters Promoters, in the same year (2007) in the name of his family members and his close family friend with the sole objective of using it as a vehicle to park the proceeds of crime. The company did not engage in any business since inception.
The 45 acres of land worth Rs 55 crore purchased using the proceeds of crime through illegal payment made as quid pro quo for obtaining environmental clearance has been provisionally attached, the ED said. Further probe is under way.
