Robert Vadra allegedly made illegal gains of Rs 50 cr in land deals: Report

Priyanka Gandhi distances herself; the land deal case has seen political mudslinging since 2012

The Robert Vadra land deal case has been at the centre of political mudslinging ever since the Narendra Modi government came to power. There's now a new twist to Vadra's alleged shady dealings. On Thursday, Priyanka Gandhi, in a statement, distanced herself from her husband Robert Vadra's finances and company dealings. She said her finances had nothing to do with those of her husband Robert Vadra's or those of his company Skylight Hospitality, which is under the Haryana government's scanner over its land deals with realty major DLF.

But what necessitated Priyanka Gandhi's distancing from her husband's property?

A statement from Gandhi's office came after a media house purportedly made a query to Robert Vadra asking whether a portion of the money he had received from DLF was used by his wife to buy properties in Faridabad in Haryana. Also, the Economics Times, quoting a yet-to-be-published report by the Dhingra panel, on Thursday reported that Robert Vadra allegedly made unlawful profits of Rs 50.5 crore from a land deal in Haryana in 2008, without spending a single paisa.

Quoting the Justice SN Dhingra Commission report, ET said that there might have been a collusion to tweak land-use norms to benefit Vadra’s company.

People familiar with the Commission's conclusion said an inquiry had been sought into properties bought by Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law and his businesses.

Meanwhile, Suman Khaitan, the lawyer representing Robert Vadra and Skylight Hospitality, was quoted as saying by ET that Vadra and Skylight had committed no wrong and that no laws had been violated. He also said land had been bought after payment of full market price. Further, income tax had also been paid.

The Dhingra Commission

The Justice SN Dhingra Commission was set up in May 2015 by the Manohar Lal government in Haryana to look into the grant of licences for change in land use in four villages of Gurgaon. These licences included the one granted to a company (Skylight Hospitality) owned by Robert Vadra. 

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former CM of Haryana, had filed a petition in November 2016 challenging the very constitution of the Dhingra panel, alleging that the government action of ordering the probe was “mala fide” and a result of political “vendetta”. The HC is yet to issue a formal notice to the state government on that.

On Thursday, Hooda claimed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court that either the state BJP government or some of its officers had leaked the Dhingra panel report into alleged land scams in Haryana.

The Haryana government had earlier this month submitted Justice (Retired) SN Dhingra probe panel report to the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope. The report highlights alleged 'favouritism' by erstwhile Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Haryana government in allotment of land to Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and others.

Robert Vadra in a soup?

The case came into public sphere in October 2012 when Arvind Kejriwal, now Delhi Chief Minister, accused Vadra of buying 31 properties in and around New Delhi from DLF's unsecured loans at prices tat were much lower than the prevailing market rate. There were also allegations that realty giant DLF enjoyed a quid pro quo with Vadra which helped it get prime land in Haryana. The Robert Vadra-DLF link just got murkier when another deal came to light. Vadra's company Skylight Hospitality is accused of buying a 3.5-acre plot in Shikohpur village near Manesar for Rs 7 crore and then selling it to DLF for Rs 58 crore. The Haryana government, then headed by the Congress, was accused of tweaking rules and regulations to favour Vadra.

But the Congress government gave a clean chit to Vadra after a probe found no irregularities in the land deal.

Later, when the Comptroller and Auditor General report for 2013-14 was tabled in the Haryana Assembly, the audit body had slammed the Congress government for making exceptions for Vadra's land deals, according to an earlier Business Standard report.