Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo will be investigated for allegedly exceeding his powers in allocating state-owned land in Taman Templer to several private companies.

The action comes after the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) cleared him of another alleged corrupt practice in distributing land in Mukim Dengkil and Kampung Lanjut.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said the ACA "has taken note" of the recent allegation by Templer state assemblyman Ahmad Bahari Abdul Rahman.

"(Ahmad Bahari) will be asked to give statements very soon," he told the Dewan Rakyat today.

Malaysiakini had reported that Ahmad Bahari had accused Mohd Khir of abusing his powers in awarding land to the companies without the approval of the state executive council.

However, Mohd Khir denied the allegation, saying the land was privately owned now and that he had not breached procedures.

'No evidence of guilt'

On the earlier allegation of misuse of power by the menteri besar, Mohd Nazri said that the ACA had completed its probe on the case and had cleared Mohd Khir of any wrongdoing.

On April 29, 2003, DAP Selangor state assemblyperson Teng Chang Kim had disclosed in the Selangor assembly that Mohd Khir has distributed land in Mukim Dengkil and Kampung Lanjut to 107 people including a few exco members and government officials.

Teng claimed that Mohd Khir had remained at the exco meeting where the land applications had been discussed and approved, although he had declared a personal interest in the matter.

Mohd Khir later denied the allegation and said he had left after declaring his personal interest in the applications.

Then Deputy Menteri Besar Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad had subsequently refuted his claim, saying that Mohd Khir and the other exco members concerned had not left, although he agreed that they had declared their interest.

Zainal Abidin's statement was subsequently recorded by the ACA, said Mohd Nazri.

"After looking at the overall statement, there was no evidence to show that Mohd Khir was guilty," he said, adding that the Attorney-General's Chamber then dropped the case.

Who should we believe?

He said the investigations also showed that Mohd Khir had left the room after declaring his interest because his officials and driver were among those who had applied for land.

"He would have been wrong if the land was for his relatives or if the officials had given him money to get the land. But in this case, it did not involve either of these (situations)," Mohd Nazri said, adding that the driver and officials were eligible to submit the applications.

He said the only confusing element in the case was the statement by Zainal Abidin that Mohd Khir has not left the meeting.

"But other exco members said Mohd Khir had left. Nine of them said the MB left... only one said something different. So who should we believe?" he asked.

Mohd Khir had been subjected to various other ACA reports over a range of issues, including the allocation of land in other parts of the state as well as the awarding of road contracts to crony companies.

Recently he came under the spotlight over his failure to control the over-development in the foothill of the gazetted Bukit Cahaya recreational park.

Mohd Nazri also disclosed that the ACA has nabbed 497 people for alleged involvement in corruption - the highest to date since the ACA was formed.

This was a 46.6 percent increase compared to 158 in 2003.