And Now, Some Facts...

A lot of misinformation has been spread regarding the allotment of farmland plots by the NOIDA authority to Jayant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan. In this connection it has to be emphasised that:

1. This allotment was not made under any discretionary quota
2. The total price of the property is Rs. 3.67 crores (not Rs. 35 lacs, as has been quoted in many newspapers) plus Rs 9.18 lakhs per annum lease rent.

The exact facts of the matter are:

1. The allotment of farm land was not from any discretionary quota but from a regular scheme floated by NOIDA.
2. This scheme was advertised in the news papers and was open for application by any person.
3. The rate for allotment was specified as Rs 3100/- per square metre or any higher rate which might be prevailing at the time of allotment. This allotment was to be on lease hold basis for 90 years.
4. It was not specified as to where in NOIDA the plots would be allotted.
5. 10% of the total value that is Rs 31,00,000 and was to be paid at the time of application.
6. On allotment, 10% more was to be paid within 30 days and the remaining was to be paid in 16 half yearly instalments along with interest thereon at 11% per annum.
7. In case of non execution of lease deed or taking over of possession within the stipulated period, the allotment could be cancelled and the amount deposited with NOIDA would be forfeited.
8. The Bhushans applied for the plots as per the scheme in March 2009.
9. In May 2009, they were called for an interview which they attended, in which the means of finance was verified.
10. In January 2010, NOIDA sent a letter stating that a plot of 10,000 sq. Mtrs in sector 165 had been reserved and the allotment letter would be issued separately.
11. Thereafter nothing was heard from NOIDA authority till January 2011 when by allotment letters dated 05/01/2011, plot Number FH-18 & FH-19, sector-165 measuring 10,000 sq mts was allotted for a total premium of Rs 3,67,50,000 [3.67 crores] at an allotment rate of 3,500 per sq mtr plus location charges for being on 30m wide road. It may be noted that the allotment rate had gone up from Rs 3,100/- per sq mtr prevailing earlier to Rs 3,500/- per sq mtr.
12. Pursuant to the allotment, an amount of Rs 51,68,750 was paid to Noida authority as per the allotment letter to making up a total of 20% of the allotment amount plus the first year's lease rental. The total amount already paid by the Bhushans is nearly Rs 83 lakhs each. The balance allotment price of nearly Rs 3 crores more has to be paid in instalments on which interest of 11% will also have to be paid. Apart from this a lease rental of Rs 9.18 lakhs per annum which translates to more than 75,000 per month will have to be paid for the entire duration of the lease.
13. It isn’t known as to how many applications were received pursuant to the open advertisement. Possibly the number of applications was not very high due to the high price and onerous conditions. In case the rate of allotment was much lower than the market value or intrinsic value, clearly the number of applicants would have been many times larger.
    
    [Editor's note: The CEO of Noida Development Authority, Rama Raman, is quoted by the Business Standard as saying: "We had about 160 applicants and 97 or 98 of those have got the plots so far and the Bhushans were among them. We are still interviewing the applicants and more applicants may get plots if they qualify”]
14. The brochure did not indicate on what basis the allotment would be made in case the number of applicants was more than the number of plots. Even when the allotment was made, it was unclear as to whether at all the number of applicants was greater than the number of plots or whether a draw of lots should have taken place.
15. It now turns out that several persons were allotted plots in a much better location (in/around sector 125 NOIDA) and much earlier and at a lower rate of Rs 3,100/- per sq mtr even though applications were made at a similar time. The Bhushans may infact have been discriminated against by
    
    
    1. Making them wait for an extra year for allotment without giving any extra interest on the registration money.
    2. Allotting plots at a location more than 10 km further away than the plots allotted to the initial allottees. These plots are obviously of much lower value than the plots in the initial sectors.
    3. Allotting the plots at a higher rate (3,500/sqm as compared to 3,100/sqm)
16. Allegations that the allotment rate is a fraction of the market rate are totally unsubstatantiated. No sales have taken place in the open market. No one has explained how the alleged market rate has been arrived at.
17. A PIL was filed in the Allahabad High Court challenging the scheme/allotments. This was dismissed last year by a bench of the High Court.
18. Another writ petition was filed by Mr Vikas Singh, former additional solicitor general, who hadalso been allotted a plot in the same vicinity as that of the Bhushans. His grievance was that the better plots in the initial sectors(in/around sec-125) had been allotted to favoured persons and that his plot was in a very bad location. 2 other persons who had not as yet been allotted a plot also challenged the allotments. This petition has also been dismissed by the Allahabad High Court on 16/04/2011. [Editor's note: Also see an open letter to Vikas Singh]
19. Any suggestion that the Bhushans got the allotment as a favour from the Mayawati government because Jayant Bhushan was arguing the NOIDA park case against the government is totally incorrect. On the contrary, that may be the reason for the delay and poor location of allotment. The NOIDA park case was argued tooth and nail in full media glare right till the end. Anyone with doubts can look at the judgement delivered in the case or contact the 2 petitioners in the case namely:

20. In fact even now, Prashant Bhushan and Mr. Shanti Bhushan are appearing against the Mayawati government in the very important case relating to the Taj corridor scam. The question of favouring the Bhushans by the Mayawati government does not arise.