Gurgaon land deal: 7 yrs on, hardly any progress in probe

Investigations into a 2018 first information report (FIR) pertaining to suspected irregularities in a land transaction between Sky Light Hospitality of Robert Vadra and realty major DLF Ltd in Gurugram’s Shikohpur have not made much progress despite the reconstitution of special investigation team by the BJP government in 2023.

Tuesday’s questioning of Vadra by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case originates from the FIR registered by Haryana police on September 1, 2018 against former chief minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Vadra and others.

The land deal involved Vadra’s Sky Light Hospitality, Onkareshwar properties and DLF . Sky Light was granted a real estate development licence by the town and country planning department for developing a commercial colony on 2.701 acres in Shikohpur village (now sector 83), Gurugram on December 15, 2008. Later, Sky Light, by way of a sale deed of September 18, 2012, sold 3.53 acres including the licensed area of 2.701 acres to DLF for ₹58 crore. The licence was cancelled by the department after seven years on March 9, 2022. The transaction came under spotlight after Haryana IAS officer, Ashok Khemka on October 15, 2012 cancelled the mutation of the land in his capacity as Director, Consolidation of Holdings. A committee of officers constituted by the then state government however termed Khemka’s orders to cancel the mutation as inappropriate and without jurisdiction. Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of former Congress president, Sonia Gandhi is a director of Sky Light Hospitality and the deal took place when the state was being governed by the Congress with chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at the helm. The BJP made the alleged corruption in the land deal an issue in run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

“We find that in FIR No.288 dated 01.09.2018 registered under Sections 420, 468, 471, 120-B IPC and under Section 13 of Prevention of Corruption Act, Police Station Kherki Daula, Gurugram, the investigation is crawling since the last five years. Therefore, we direct that the investigation be completed in the said case at the earliest,’’ said a Punjab and Haryana high court bench in its November 3, 2023 order. The HC bench is monitoring the timeline of cases against MPs and MLAs.

According to a February police report on the current status of investigation, a former director of Onkareshwar Properties, Govind Goyal joined the investigations on August 6, 2024. “A former chief town planner (CTP), Dhare Singh joined the investigation on May 8, 2024 and queries were raised before the CTP, Haryana based on Dhare Singh’s replies to a questionnaire presented by the SIT. Reminders have also been sent to Gurgaon deputy commissioner to seek the legality of sale deed (number 4928 of February 12, 2008 by which Sky Light Hospitality had bought the land) and the response is still awaited. On July 26, 2024, the complainant in the case, Surender Sharma joined the investigation,’’ the report said.

In 2014, the BJP , after coming to power in the state, set up a Commission of Inquiry under Justice SN Dhingra (retd) in 2015 to probe issues pertaining to grant of commercial licence to Sky Light. The Punjab and Haryana High court on January 10, 2019 quashed the report of the Commission of Inquiry citing procedural flaws and restrained the state government from making it public. However, the high court said the state government would be at liberty to appoint a new Commission of Inquiry on the same subject matter. The government though did not appoint one.

Former Haryana chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar in July 2024 seemingly absolved Vadra of illegality, saying the matter does not invite a jail term. “There is no such illegality in the matter (land transaction) that action has to be taken against someone to put them in jail,’’ Khattar, a union minister now said.

He added that the findings (of inquiry) indicated that there was a variation in the sale and purchase price of the land which raised a suspicion that someone profited from it. “However, we do not get inquiries conducted with the aim of sending our opponents to the jail,’’ Khattar said indicating there could be at best a civil remedy such as imposition of penalty or reverting the land.