The Haryana government had set up a one-man commission of inquiry headed by retired Delhi High Court judge S.N. Dhingra to probe grant of licences by the state department of town and country planning to certain entities, including one to Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Justice Dhingra has started his probe, but he says that his probe is limited alone to the land deal of Robert Vadra.
Conducting inquiry to probe issues concerning grant of licences for developing commercial colonies, Justice Dhingra said on 10 September 2015 that he was not there to probe in particular the land deal of Robert Vadra. The probe would be conducted as per the official notification issued for the inquiry, Justice Dhingra told media persons near his office in the Civil Lines area here at Gurgaon.
“There is no specific mention of Robert Vadra’s name anywhere in the notification issued by the state government for a probe into the matter,” he said when asked if he would order Vadra to present himself before the commission. What people or politicians say doesn’t make any difference, Justice Dhingra added.
When told that certain quarters in the state government were claiming that the one-man commission was set up to probe the 3.5-acre land deal of Robert Vadra in Shikohpur (sector 83) in Gurgaon on the Delhi-Jaipur-Mumbai National Highway, he said only those claiming so could provide an answer to the issue.
He clarified that he had begun the probe into many issues pertaining to the grant of commercial licences, which includes one given to Sky Light Hospitality, a company owned by Robert Vadra. Justice Dhingra also said that he would hopefully submit a report to the Haryana government within six months.
It is noteworthy that the town and country planning department of Haryana Government in 2008 had granted a commercial licence to Robert Vadra’s company for 2.70 acres of land in Shikohpur, Gurgaon. This land was later sold to reality company DLF.
Haryana’s senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka, as director general of consolidation of holdings, had later cancelled the mutation of 3.5 acres in Shikohpur but a committee constituted by the then Congress government in Haryana had termed Khemka’s orders “inappropriate and without jurisdiction”. [with inputs from IANS]
