Dhingra commission seeks more time for Haryana land deals report

Amid a fresh controversy over its legal validity, the one-man Justice S.N. Dhingra Commission of Inquiry set up by the Haryana government to probe controversial land deals in Gurgaon district has sought extension of time for six weeks to submit its report, state government sources said on Thursday.

Justice Dhingra has sent a letter to the Haryana Chief Secretary seeking extension in time to submit the report.

The commission, set up by the BJP government in Haryana in May last year, has been asked to probe controversial land deals in Haryana, including the land deals of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said recently that the report would be submitted by June.

Former Haryana Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday raised objections to the constitution of the commission saying that it was "contrary to law".

Hooda said that the Dhingra Commission had been set up "contrary to established rules and norms, without due cabinet approval and prompted by malice and political considerations" and urged Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki "to revoke the constitution of the Commission of Enquiry".

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

VadraAhad termed the inquiry commission as a "political witch-hunt" launched against him by the BJP government in Haryana.

The Khattar government had appointed retired Delhi High Court judge, Justice S.N.Dhingra, to head the one-man commission to probe the grant of licences to Vadra's company and other firms for developing commercial properties in Gurgaon's Sector 83 and some other prime areas.

The commission is mandated to probe their subsequent transfer or disposal, allegations of private enrichment, ineligibility of beneficiaries under the rules, and other connected matters.

Its scope was expanded in August last year to probe grant of all licences to colonisers and individuals in four villages of Gurgaon by the previous Congress government in Haryana led by Hooda.

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

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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