GANDHINAGAR – Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on Monday said that he had slapped legal notices on Gujarat Congress leaders who had alleged a Rs 500 crore scam was committed through him by helping a private real estate development company and converting the use of land parcels in two villages under the Rajkot Urban Development Authority (RUDA).

“After discussing the matter with my lawyer, I have sent legal notices to the Congress Leader of Opposition Party (LOP), Sukhram Rathwa and MLAs CJ Chavda and Shailesh Parmar, seeking their apologies within 15 days or else I would move the court with a defamation suit,” Rupani told reporters on Monday.

Last week, Rathwa had claimed that the land use of parcels in two villages, originally meant for a private company to build a township, was changed. The RUDA passed a resolution for zone change of the land, acting on a request from company officials.

The opposition Congress alleged that during the tenure of Vijay Rupani as chief minister, the proposal was approved by the state urban development department, allowing the company to use the land for other purposes as well.

The Congress had demanded a CBI probe into the matter and the cancellation of the land use order.

At the time of the Congress’ allegations, Rupani had said, “There has been a conspiracy going on for some time to defame my political career. The land in question is worth Rs 75 crore, then how come a Rs 500 crore scam can take place?

Rupani had earlier said that the scope for a scam exists when an industrial or agriculture zone is converted into a residential zone but not vice versa. He said he had approved conversion of the residential zone into an industrial zone in Nava Maliyasan which would actually reduce the price of the land and therefore there was no scope for a scam. He had said each government makes changes in zones as per the demand of the situation for the development of a city.