The Tribune, Jamuary 21, 2004

Dowry case against Hooda
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 20
The Panchkula police last night registered a dowry case against Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha; his son, Deepinder Singh, and two others. The case has been registered on a complaint lodged by Mrs Geeta Hooda nee Grewal, who is the daughter of a senior officer of the Haryana Industries Department. Mr Hooda, however, described the allegations against him as “politically motivated”.

In a statement issued here today, Mr Hooda said his political opponents had connived with the in-laws of his son to implead him and other members of his family in a false case. Mr Hooda said his son was married to Geeta on December 28, 2002. After honeymoon Deepinder left for the USA to complete his studies. Since Geeta was to go for higher medical studies in that country, visa formalities were to be completed and she was required to clear certain academic tests. Geeta was admitted to an academy in Delhi and she stayed with the Hoodas there. However, in May last she came to Panchkula and did not return to her marital house.

In her complaint Geeta alleged that Deepinder, his mother, Asha, and his aunt, Saroj (wife of the elder brother of Mr Hooda) were pressing her to bring an Esteem car from her parents. She also alleged that her in-laws demanded she should bring one-year salary she had earned while working in Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh. She alleged that she was threatened with dire consequences if she did not meet their demands. Geeta maintained in her complaint that even after Deepinder left for the USA on January 17, he rang her up from there to bring the car from her parents. She alleged that her mother-in-law had even once slapped her at the instigation of her sister-in-law. Geeta said after she told her parents that she was not safe in the house of her in-laws, her mother rang up Mrs Hooda on May 16 that she (Geeta) would not come to Delhi.

Mr Hooda said after Geeta refused to come to her marital house, her parents demanded Rs 4.5 lakh for agreeing to a mutual divorce. He said this amount was paid to them. However, the girl did not sign the divorce papers even after that. Rather, he alleged, the girl’s father demanded Rs 60 lakh from him. Mr Hooda said when he expressed his inability to pay Rs 60 lakh, Mr Grewal allegedly threatened to “finish him politically”. Mr Hooda said he had tapes of Mr Grewal’s conversation with him in this regard.

In her complaint Geeta also alleged that Mr Hooda had demanded a Mercedes car while her mother-in-law demanded Rs 60 lakh. She also claimed to have paid Rs 20,000 as half of the expenditure incurred on honeymoon. Denying the allegations Mr Hooda said Geeta and her parents had lodged the complaint against his family “to counter” a complaint of extortion lodged by them (Hoodas) with Lajpat Nagar Police station in Delhi on November 22 last. He said the Grewals had not joined the investigations despite several notices to them by the police. He said the allegations levelled by Geeta were an after-thought because his son had filed a divorce petition in a Rohtak court on December 4 last. When the case came up for hearing on January 1, the court ordered that “dasti summons” should be issued to the respondent (Geeta). Now the case was fixed for hearing on February 16.

Mr Hooda also claimed that Geeta and her parents had gone to the Sector 19 police station in Panchkula at 9-30 p.m. yesterday. The police immediately registered the case against the guidelines for matrimonial disputes. As per these guidelines, he said, the complaint should have first gone to the crime against women cell for initial investigations. Only then the case should have been registered. The Grewals again visited the police station this evening. A police source said efforts were on for a compromise between them and the Hoodas. Geeta refused to talk to newsmen either at her Sector 14 residence or at the police station.