CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana HC has directed Haryana Police to conclude “at the earliest” its probe in a case pertaining to a Gurgaon land deal in which Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Vadra, is an accused.
The HC said it found that the “investigation has been crawling for the last five years”. The order was passed on Monday by an HC division bench comprising Justices GS Sandhawalia and Harpreet Kaur Jeewan while hearing an PIL related to the expeditious disposal of cases pending in the region against former and sitting MPs and MLAs.
The Manohar Lal Khattar-led government had registered an FIR on on September 1, 2018 at Gurgaon’s Kherki Daula police station against Hooda, Vadra, DLF, Onkareshwar Properties and Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality.
The case was registered under various IPC sections and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
One of the allegations is Skylight Hospitality had purchased the controversial 3.5 acres of land at Shikohpur, in Gurgaon, from Okareshwar Properties in February 2008 for Rs 7.5 crore and, after obtaining a commercial licence, had sold it to DLF for Rs 58 crore. Another allegation is that in return the then Hooda government had allotted 350 acres of land at Wazirabad, Gurgaon, to DLF.
The matter, which had even become a poll issue during the 2014 parliamentary polls when this “Vadra deal” was showcased as symbol of corruption by BJP to target the then governing Congress, is being probed by an SIT comprising one DCP, two ACPs, one inspector and one ASI. Recently, the Haryana government had also nominated IAS officer Mukul Kumar and former chief town planner Dilbag Singh to assist the Haryana police SIT. A law officer serving as additional advocate-general in the Haryana advocate-general’s office is also assisting the SIT.
In this case, the tehsildar of Manesar, Gurgaon, however, had reported that M/s Skylight Hospitality had sold 3.5 acres to M/s DLF Universal Ltd on September 18, 2012, and no regulation/rules had been violated in the said transaction. The probe team had also found that crucial records pertaining to the financial transactions of Vadra’s company had been destroyed by “water” that had entered the bank’s branch.
The HC said it found that the “investigation has been crawling for the last five years”. The order was passed on Monday by an HC division bench comprising Justices GS Sandhawalia and Harpreet Kaur Jeewan while hearing an PIL related to the expeditious disposal of cases pending in the region against former and sitting MPs and MLAs.
The Manohar Lal Khattar-led government had registered an FIR on on September 1, 2018 at Gurgaon’s Kherki Daula police station against Hooda, Vadra, DLF, Onkareshwar Properties and Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality.
The case was registered under various IPC sections and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
One of the allegations is Skylight Hospitality had purchased the controversial 3.5 acres of land at Shikohpur, in Gurgaon, from Okareshwar Properties in February 2008 for Rs 7.5 crore and, after obtaining a commercial licence, had sold it to DLF for Rs 58 crore. Another allegation is that in return the then Hooda government had allotted 350 acres of land at Wazirabad, Gurgaon, to DLF.
The matter, which had even become a poll issue during the 2014 parliamentary polls when this “Vadra deal” was showcased as symbol of corruption by BJP to target the then governing Congress, is being probed by an SIT comprising one DCP, two ACPs, one inspector and one ASI. Recently, the Haryana government had also nominated IAS officer Mukul Kumar and former chief town planner Dilbag Singh to assist the Haryana police SIT. A law officer serving as additional advocate-general in the Haryana advocate-general’s office is also assisting the SIT.
In this case, the tehsildar of Manesar, Gurgaon, however, had reported that M/s Skylight Hospitality had sold 3.5 acres to M/s DLF Universal Ltd on September 18, 2012, and no regulation/rules had been violated in the said transaction. The probe team had also found that crucial records pertaining to the financial transactions of Vadra’s company had been destroyed by “water” that had entered the bank’s branch.