Haryana sets up commission to probe licences to Vadra, others

The Haryana government on Thursday announced retired Delhi High Court judge, Justice S.N. Dhingra, would head a one-man commission to probe the grant of licences to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's company and other firms for developing commercial properties in Gurgaon's Sector 83.

An official spokesman said here that the commission would also probe their subsequent transfer or disposal, allegations of private enrichment, ineligibility of beneficiaries under the rules, and other connected matters.

"Issues concerning public importance related to the grant of licenses and alleged illegalities have come to the notice of the state government," the spokesman said.

Vadra's company had, after obtaining licence for developing commercial property quickly, had sold off the same land to realty major DLF for a whopping Rs.58 crore, thus making a profit of Rs.43 crore.

Official sources said that Vadra and others were allegedly granted favours by the then Congress government in Haryana headed by Bhupinder Singh 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.

"The Haryana government has appointed Justice S.N. Dhingra, retired judge of the Delhi High Court, one-man Commission of Inquiry to probe the issues concerning the grant of license(s) for developing commercial colonies by the department of town and country planning, Haryana, to some entities in Sector 83, Gurgaon," the government spokesman said.

The commission will submit its report to the state government as soon as possible, but not later than six months from the date of its first sitting, he said.

It will probe the circumstances under which licenses were granted, whether the said entities were eligible for grant of licenses as per the applicable laws and rules, whether the transfer of licenses by the original licencee within a short period of time to other entities was violative of laws and rules and whether the TCPD had contemplated the transactions with reference to the loss of revenue to the government.

The panel will also recommend "measures to take corrective action to prevent loss of revenue to the public exchequer and also prevention of undue private enrichment at the cost of the public exchequer in such cases in the future".

The role of officers in grant of licences will also be looked into. Complaints against the grant of licences and the CAG report findings will form the basis of the inquiry.