Haryana govt sends notice to Vadra's Skylight Hospitalities

The Haryana government has issued a notice to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's company Skylight Hospitalities, seeking details of a land deal in Gurgaon with realty major DLF, for the purpose of imposing tax.

"We have issued a show cause notice to Skylight Hospitalities, Gurgaon and sought details of transaction (with DLF)," Haryana Excise and Taxation Officer (Gurgaon) Partap Singh on Tuesday said over phone from Gurgaon.

He said the company has been asked to reply to the notice by October 26.

In the notice, the department has said, "the record made available by the department of town and country planning shows that the company was granted license in 2008 to develop commercial project in Gurgaon. Further information gathered shows that this license was sold by the company to DLF for around Rs 58 crore."

"It has been brought to the notice of this authority that aside from selling land, the company has sold a license for huge consideration to the above buyer," it further said.

The notice said, "Such license having sales value covered by the definition of the word "goods" as available under section 2 (1) (r) of the Haryana Value Added Tax Act (HVAT) 2003. The proceeds of the sale will, therefore, constitute sales price exigible to tax under HVAT Act 2003".

Haryana Excise and Taxation Department has sought from Vadra's company to furnish information regarding the total value of the land sold to DLF, total value of the license sold to DLF and any other transaction in the nature of sale exigible to VAT.

Notably IAS officer Ashok Khemka had cancelled the land mutation of 3.53 acres, which Vadra had sold to DLF for Rs 58 crore in October 2012.