The Allahabad high court has questioned the Uttar Pradesh government on re-appointment of the officers in Noida who had been removed for land scam earlier.

The court has sought an explanation from the UP government on the appointment of Noida Development Authority chairman Rakesh Bahadur and CEO Sanjeev Saran.

Also read: Noida chairman, CEO appointments show revenge politics is back in UP

A division bench comprising justices Arun Tandon and RS Maruya sought explanation from state advocate general SP Gupta. The court has fixed June 29 as the next date of hearing in the matter.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by Madhav Samaj Nirman Samiti.

The counsel of the petitioner KK Arora said the two officials were involved in land scam between 2005-07. Because of this, the state government suffered a financial loss of over Rs 1,643 crore and the land allotment was cancelled.

The government registered criminal cases against the officers under section 420, 467 and 471 of the IPC and section 13 of the Anti-Corruption Act. They were suspended by the government and departmental probe was initiated.

But the new UP government withdrew all the cases and reinstated them.