Congress reaction on Dhingra panel raises suspicion: Haryana CM

The Congress reaction even before the Justice (retd) S.N. Dhingra Commission has submitted its report on the land deals during the earlier Congress rule makes one "suspect that something is not right", Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Friday.

The Congress was raising objections to the commission more than a year after it was set up, Khattar told the media in Panchkula near here.

The commission was set up by the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Haryana in May 2015 to probe the alleged controversial land deals in Haryana, including those involving Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra.

Congress leaders this week questioned the commission's legal validity, saying it was set up in violation of law.

On Thursday, the Congress claimed that a trust headed by Justice Dhingra had been extended favours by the Khattar government.

"The commission was constituted one year ago. At that time, the Congress had no issues. Even earlier also, the panel's tenure was extended and the approval notified after 10 days. Even then, no one raised any issue. Now also, the government has extended its term by two months," the chief minister said.

Khattar said facts in the matter will become clear once the panel submits its report.

Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda earlier said the inquiry panel was set up "contrary to established rules and norms, without due cabinet approval and prompted by malice and political considerations".

He urged Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki "to revoke the constitution of the Commission of Enquiry".

The Congress leader said the state government deliberately set up the commission to probe grant of licences to "some entities only in one sector, that is, Sector-83 of Gurgaon".

Vadra and others were allegedly granted favours by the then Congress government headed by Hooda in issuing licences to develop commercial properties in Gurgaon's Sector 83.

Vadra had termed the inquiry commission as a "political witch-hunt".

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had pointed out that Vadra's firm, Skylight Hospitality, had not submitted documents on financial adequacy. Despite that, the firm was granted a licence.

--IANS

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