The Supreme Court will hear on Sep 12 a petition questioning the allotment of prime plots in Lucknow to 28 politicians and officials by Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh at the instance of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The public interest litigation, questioning the Lucknow Development Authority's allotments, was filed by advocate Vishwanath Chaturvedi. It was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti for early listing.

The bench then directed listing of the matter for hearing on Sep 12.

The petitioner alleged that prime plots in Vipul Khand in Gomti Nagar in the Uttar Pradesh capital meant for allotment under the Economically Weaker Section Scheme were instead given to 28 politicians and bureaucrats and their relatives. He said this was done illegally, arbitrarily and in a corrupt manner on the instructions of the chief minister and his close aide.

Chaturvedi alleged that the allotment was made at a rate of Rs.3,000 a sq metre as against the prevailing market rate of Rs.20,000 a sq metre.

Prominent among those who have been allotted land include R.C.S. Rawat, the father-in-law of Mulayam Singh's son Akhilesh, and Anita Singh, the chief minister's special secretary.

In his petition, Chaturvedi raised the question of whether politicians and bureaucrats at the helm of affairs of the state could be allowed to misappropriate public property; and what action could be taken against them if they were found misappropriating funds.

The petitioner sought constitution of a committee consisting of a retired judge of the apex court to go into the veracity of the allotment of plots or a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to fix responsibility of individuals responsible for the illegal allotment.

He also sought an order cancelling the 28 allotments.