Vadra deals: Probe agency seeks six more weeks' time

Vadra deals: Eyebrows being raised over commission's volte face

In an unexpected move, the judicial panel probing irregularities in land deals in Gurgaon has withheld its report and sought six weeks’ time.

The commission, headed by Justice (retired) S N Dhingra, was also looking into the controversial land deal between realty major DLF and Robert Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality.
It was supposed to hand over the report to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday evening.

Justice Dhingra wrote to the Haryana chief secretary seeking a six-week extension in the wake of 'new evidence' that was provided by an individual, whom he preferred not to name.

Eyebrows are being raised over the commission’s volte face, especially when the probe head was on record saying the report was complete and was likely to be submitted on Thursday. The term of the commission, which began on May 7, 2015, ended on Thursday.

Interestingly, the commission did not summon Vadra or whistleblower bureaucrat Ashok Khemka, who blew the lid off on the land deal involving Vadra's company and DLF.

It said Vadra and some private players responded to the written queries from the commission and that is why they were not summoned. 

In anticipation of the report, a jittery Congress and Vadra stepped up the offensive on Thursday. Vadra accused the government of political vendetta.

Top Congress leaders from the state, including former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, questioned the legitimacy of the probe commission and even tried to corner Justice Dhingra on charges of 'impropriety'. Hooda said the commission lacked legitimacy since it did not have the approval of the state cabinet and only had authorisation of the chief secretary.  The report is likely to act as fodder for the incumbent BJP in Haryana.

But the Congress accused the government of extending undue favours to Justice Dhingra for a charitable trust he heads. 

Although Justice Dhingra denied all charges, the state government acted swiftly in implementing his request for a paver block on the road leading to a pre-school being set up by the trust in Haryana.

The probe commission is looking into irregularities in grant of licences and land deals in four villages in Gurgaon during Hooda’s tenure as chief minister.  

Being used for political gains: Vadra

Robert Vadra, at the centre of a controversy over shady land deals, on Thursday hit out at critics,  claiming he was being used for “political gains”, DHNS reports from New Delhi.
Vadra, who is Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, said all the accusations were baseless and the government cannot prove anything against him.

“Almost a decade of governments false and baseless accusations on me! They cannot prove anything without proof, and there is nothing there to prove...,” Vadra wrote on his Facebook page.

­“I will always be used for political gains, I know... But I will walk with my head held high, as in time and with the truth which will conquer incorrect perceptions, created about me,” he posted.

Recently, the Enforcement Directorate issued a notice to Vadra for his reported involvement in a land scam in Bikaner. In the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP turned Vadra’s land deals into a poll issue.