Acting on a PIL, the High Court set aside an important decision of the State government. That was to lease out “Minto Hall”, a historic building which housed the state Assembly for more than four decades, along with 16 acres of Prime land surrounding it, to private companies on a token annual lease rent of Re 1.

The decision had evoked loud protests. It was pointed out that by prominent residents of the city, including a clutch of former IAS and IPS officers, that the “Minto Hall” was a heritage building and the government's decision to hand it over to private parties for building a 300-room Five Star Hotel and a shopping Mall smacked not only of crass commercialisation but also a total disregard of the need to preserve the state's history.

When the Government refused to yield, a group of concerned citizens filed a PIL in the high court, which restrained the government from going ahead with the proposal.

It would be pertinent to mention here that some residents of Malaviya Nagar - a locality in the vicinity of the Raj Bhawan - had, a couple of years back, sought permission to build the third and fourth stories of their houses. However, the permission was denied on the ground that the houses would be a threat to the security of the Raj Bhawan. This decision was taken when terrorism was yet to emerge as a major threat in India. However, the Government, now, had given permission for the construction of a five star hotel and a shopping mall in and around “Minot hall”, which is barely 100 mts from the Raj Bhawan. The Raj Bhawan not only happens to be the residence of the state Governor but VVIP visitors to the State, including the Presidents and Prime Ministers of India and foreign countries are put up at the Raj Bhawan.

The Chief Minister had been consistently stating that he would annihilate the land Mafiosi operating in the State. However, in this case, the Government itself seemed to have assumed the role of a Mafia. The move, however, has been thwarted by the High Court

Yet another issue which brought acute embarrassment for the Chief Minister was his own Ministers bitterly opposing a proposal put up by him before the Cabinet. This issue relates to a Medical college, being built by the “Jain Samaj” (an umbrella organisation of Jains in the State). The “Jain Samaj” had been allotted 25 acres of government land on a nominal annual lease rent for the construction of the Medical College. Next, the “Jain Samaj” sought the permission of the Government to mortgage the said land for obtaining loan from financial institutions for the construction of the college building. The district Collector of Bhopal recommended that the permission be granted. However, when the proposal came before the Cabinet, it was bitterly opposed by a host of senior ministers, led by former Chief Minister Babulal Gaur. They argued that in the eventuality of the “Jain Samaj” not repaying the loan, the financial institution concerned would be entitled to sell the mortgaged land for recovering its dues. And the land which will be go under the hammer would be Government land, allotted to the “Jain Samaj” for a pittance (a lease rent of Re 1 per annum). This, they argued, was an unacceptable proposition.

However, many MLAs are livid with the directive. “How the MLAs should spend their development fund is their absolute discretion and no authority has the right to dictate to them that they should give money for this or that purpose. I, for one, would not give a penny for the Jain Medical college”, Gaur said at the face of the Chief Minister.

In fact, so keen was the Chief Minister to garner funds for the proposed Medical College that his Secretariat had issued instructions to all district Collectors to “persuade” the MLAs of their respective districts to donate Rs. 5 lakhs each for the Medical College.

Ultimately, under pressure from the dissenting Ministers, the proposal to allow the “Jain Samaj” to mortgage government land for obtaining loan was spiked - making it a rare occasion when a proposal initiated by the Chief Minister was spiked. (IPA)