Trouble might be looming large for Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress National Chief Sonia Gandhi, in a land deal case where he allegedly earned Rs 50.5 crore profit.
An exclusive Economic Times report quoted details from individuals familiar with Justice SN Dhingra panel’s report on irregular granting of land licenses to firms, including Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality, in four villages of Gurugram. The dealings were undertaken during Congress leader and then Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s regime.
Dhingra panel was created in May 2015 by the current Harayana government under CM Manohar Lal Khattar after the case came to the fore in October 2012. Vadra’s firm was accused of purchasing land from Omkareshwar Properties and allegedly selling it to DLF at a hefty price that earned him Rs 50.5 crore. The report is not yet out in the public domain.
The report was submitted on 31 August last year to the state government and was sent to the Supreme Court last week, said the ET report.
Vadra has been denying all allegations and said he is a victim of “political witch hunt”. His lawyer Suman Khaitan told ET that neither Vadra nor his company had “done no wrong” and “no laws were violated” as the land was purchased at market price.
It further said that Vadra’s wife Priyanka Gandhi's agricultural land in Amirpur village was also under the panel's scanner.
A statement from Priyanka Gandhi's office on Friday said that her finances had nothing to do with those of her husband or his company and that the land was purchased for Rs 15 lakh in 2006, six years prior to the purported land deal involving Skylight Hospitality. This comes after she was asked whether the land was bought with the money that Vadra had received from DLF.
It also said the land was resold to the original owner four years later on 17 February 2010 for Rs 80 lakh, the then prevailing market price.
Senior Congress leader and party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that “no concrete evidence has been found” against Vadra.
Launching an attack on the Congress, BJP leader Zafar Islam, while speaking to CNN-News18, said that the “sins” of the Congress will be exposed.
People will now know how they (Congress) plundered the wealth of India by misusing their power. It is now for the SC to decide who is the culprit.Zafar Islam, BJP
(With inputs from PTI.)
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