A day after claiming to have completed the enquiry into the land deals involving Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra in Haryana, Justice SN Dhingra, who is heading one-man commission, sprang a surprise on Thursday seeking six more weeks to complete the probe following fresh evidence came to his knowledge.
The deadline for submission of the report, with three extensions, ended on Thursday. Justice Dhingra had on Wednesday told mediapersons that his probe report was ready.
Justice Dhingra on Thursday wrote to Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar saying that he needed more time to complete the probe as he needs to go through new documents — like sale deeds, documents pertaining to benami transactions — he received at the last hour.
“I was proceeding to submit the report (to the Haryana CM) but somebody came and gave a bunch of documents to me (in Gurgaon), saying these documents are of benami transactions of those who benefitted from the grant of licence. I started looking at these documents. After going through some of the documents, I found that this would require a little study and re-investigation. I sent a message (to the State Govt) that in case you give me an extension I shall study the documents, make them part of my report otherwise I will come tomorrow and give the report," Dhingra said.
The request for extension also came at a time when the Congress alleged that Justice Dhingra took “favours” from the Haryana Government.
The Congress and the INlD termed the Commission as “unconstitutional” as it is formed without the consent from either the Cabinet or the Assembly. Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that Justice Dhingra has sought favours from the Haryana Government making him incompetent and unsuitable to deliver any verdict or report in the matter.
He said since Justice Dhingra has compromised his position it is best that he either recused himself from the enquiry or the BJP Government disband the panel and constitute a fair probe.
Surjewala alleged that after becoming head of Gopal Singh Charitable Trust in December 2015, Justice Dhingra had moved an application to Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner asking for a road to be built connecting a school he was getting constructed.
The Congress spokesperson alleged that the Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner, in whose office Dhingra Commission is headquartered, worked with great urgency and said that roads had to be constructed out of district planning funds within a week. The Haryana Rural Development Fund (HRDF) board headed by Chief Minister had then proceeded to sanction Rs97 lakh out of which road is being constructed, alleged Surjewala.
A day before, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had also sought revocation of the constitution of the commission. Hooda had written a letter to Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki urging him “to look into the matter to uphold the Constitutional values and to advise the present Government not to abuse the provisions of law to harass the members of the opposition party (Congress) and further, to revoke the constitution of the commission of inquiry”.
However, senior Haryana Minister Anil Vij hit out at the Congress for criticising the Dhingra Commission, saying, “The CAG had stated a lot in its report that the previous Government bent rules to benefit Vadra’s company.”
“To keep him and his political masters happy, Hooda had gone out of the way to dole out benefits to Vadra. Why is he feeling guilt consciousIJ What is the need to write a letter to the Governor when the Commission was about to submit its reportIJ, said Vij. Meanwhile, Vadra also said he was being used for “political gains”, adding that baseless accusations were levelled against him by “Governments” for “almost a decade”.
“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 said in a post 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 said in the post.
On the other hand, the Indian National lok Dal has accused the BJP Government in Haryana of not being serious in probing the shady land deals inked during the previous Congress rule in Haryana.
INlD leader and Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala alleged that the Commission is “unconstitutional” as the Assembly’s approval was not obtained for its formation.
The one-man panel was set up by the Manohar lal Khattar Government in May 2015 to probe issues pertaining to grant of development licences to companies -- including Sky light Hospitality owned by Robert Vadra in Gurgaon’s Sector 83. The panel was given six months to complete the probe.
Since the scope of enquiry was later widened from one sector to more (78 to 86) on the request of the State Government, the term of the commission was extended by another six months from December 8, 2015, to June 7, 2016. It was in June again that the commission sought another extension of three weeks up to June 30.
Interestingly, the Commission never summoned developers or Haryana cadre IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who had cancelled the mutation of the land owned by Vadra.
However, Justice Dhingra had issued summon to former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda who did not appear and sent his counsels with documents.
Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality Pvt ltd had allegedly made huge profit on the sale of a plot of land to DlF after he had obtained the change of land use for the same. Skylight Hospitality, had sold a prime 3.5 acre piece of land in Gurgaon district to DlF in 2008 for Rs 58 crore.