Vadra firm's land mutation cancelled, DLF stock drops

Realtor's shares fall 4% even as land official Khemka's order may not be legally tenable

The initials ‘A K’ certainly spell trouble for real estate giant DLF and Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Vadra. After activist Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘expose’ on the DLF-Vadra links, a Haryana government official Ashok Khemka cancelled a 3.5-acre land mutation in Manesar, threatening to impact the realtor’s commercial projects at the site.

Even as government officials indicated the cancellation of the mutation of land, from Vadra’s Sky Light Hospitality to DLF Universal, might not be legally tenable, DLF’s share price fell 4.26 per cent on the BSE on Tuesday to close at Rs 208.

If the cancellation comes into effect, DLF will fail to get the title of the prime land and it will remain in the name of Sky Light Hospitality. Khemka, who as director general of land consolidation and special collector had ordered a probe into the DLF-Vadra land deals citing illegalities, got his transfer orders from the Haryana government on October 11. On his last day in office, he cancelled the mutation of the land in Manesar involving DLF and Vadra.

The cancellation might not hold good as Khemka was already sent a transfer order before that, pointed out an official. Haryana Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Chaudhary defended Khemka’s transfer as a decision taken by the Haryana government in compliance with a Punjab and Haryana High Court order dated October 1. According to a Haryana government spokesperson, Khemka wanted to be relieved from the post of special collector. Since the court wanted the government to take a quick decision on filling the special collector’s position, usually held jointly by the land consolidation director general, Khemka was transferred, the state government said.

Officials hinted Khemka might not have been the competent authority to cancel a land mutation suo motu. “The due process must be followed; it cannot be done summarily,” an official said.

DLF had not commented on the issue till the time of going to press. However, people close to the development said no project had been launched at the land in question. DLF plans to develop it as a commercial project.

Some others argued “ownership cannot be cancelled” in the manner Khemka did. Industry representatives said DLF should have at least been issued a showcause notice and given an opportunity to explain.

Khemka had asked for a probe on October 8 into land deals done by Vadra and his companies in four districts of Haryana. He was transferred three days later as managing director of the Haryana Seeds Development Corporation.

A day after getting the transfer order, Khemka asked the deputy commissioners of four districts near Delhi — Gurgaon, Mewat, Faridabad and Palwal — to inspect land documents related to Vadra’s companies from 2005 onwards.

Khemka had said the mutation was cancelled on technical grounds; that is, the officer who did the mutation was not authorised to do so under the Consolidation Act. According to the Haryana government, assistant consolidation officers have been sanctioning mutation after due verification of records.

News agency PTI reported Khemka’s friend and lawyer Anupam Gupta alleged Khemka was receiving threatening phone calls.