Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 27 Nov: Congress leader Abhinav Thapar today again alleged serious irregularities and a potential scam in the allocation of approximately 98.5 acres of government land at the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL) IT Park in Dehradun. He reminded that the land, which is located on Sahastradhara Road, is estimated to have a current market value of nearly Rs 4,000 crore.
Addressing a press conference at the Congress Bhawan here, today, Thapar cited some data and showed documents claiming to indicate grave misconduct in the land allotment process. He stated that, since 2023, he has sought copies of all the files, note sheets, sanction orders, and documents related to the SIDCUL land allocation process through Right to Information (RTI) applications. Despite the fact that more than two years have passed, the information has not been provided, nor has any investigation been initiated or action taken against those responsible for not providing the information.
A First Appeal order dated 23 April 2024 had clearly directed “legal action if the file is not found”. However, SIDCUL’s letters dated 30 May 2024 and 31 May 2025 explicitly stated that the files related to the IT Park allotment were not available in the office.
Following the failure to obtain documents from SIDCUL, Thapar filed a Second Appeal before the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). During the hearing, the Commission noted that ‘SIDCUL, in its records for over two years, has claimed that no file related to the selection process of M/s Feedback Ventures Pvt Ltd for the IT Park project is available.’ The CIC’s order of 5 August 2025 mandated the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) regarding the “disappearance of this file”. Astonishingly, following the order to file the FIR, the file was ‘suddenly traced’ in SIDCUL after 5 August 2025, despite being declared untraceable for more than two years prior. The recovery of the file came only under pressure from the FIR directive.
The final order, issued on 16 September 2025, directed SIDCUL to provide the applicant with information and certified copies of the files free of cost. However, this order has also not been implemented till now.
Thapar reiterated that the 98.5 acres of government land, valued at approximately Rs 4,000 crores, is situated on Sahastradhara Road. He claimed that there is a strong possibility of a massive scam in its allocation and he also alleged that there are serious indications of gross irregularities and undue favour being shown to certain companies over the past few years. This, he argued, is why the RTI documents have been suppressed for over two years. Thapar also asserted that the land is public property but an attempt is being made to wrongly distribute it and cover up the entire matter. This is loot of the state’s resources but the Congress will fight against this.
Thapar further demanded an immediate high-level inquiry against SIDCUL officials who are not complying with the orders of the Chief Information Commissioner in the RTI process and are concealing documents. He called for a criminal FIR to be lodged in the entire episode to ascertain which officers had suppressed the file for years. He emphasised that this is not merely administrative negligence but a matter of serious economic and criminal offence. He stressed that the Congress party would not allow this scam to be suppressed and would raise it on a large scale among the public.
Among those present at the press conference today included President of the Uttarakhand Congress Ex-Servicemen Cell, Col Ramratan Negi (Retd), Municipal Councillor Komal Vohra, Shishpal Bisht, Mohan Kala and Arun Baluni.
