Congress targets judge probing Vadra land deals, Justice Dhingra hints at more dirt

Justice Dhingra, a former judge of the Delhi High Court, told The Indian Express that his report was ready and he would have submitted it Thursday had he not received some more papers about “benami deals” in the four villages.

In an email to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and the Chief Secretary, Justice Dhingra said: “Before I could proceed to Chandigarh in the morning for submitting the report, I received a bunch of sale deeds from a person who claimed that these documents were about benami transactions of those who benefited from grant of licences… After looking at the documents, I am of the opinion that the documents need to be studied and examined in detail. I would, therefore, require more time to study the documents. I would require about six weeks more time for the commission work.”

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Amit Arya, Media Advisor to the Chief Minister, later said: “The government has granted a six-week extension to the commission.”

Earlier in the day, the Congress accused Justice Dhingra of taking favours from the BJP government in Haryana and said he should either recuse himself or the government should disband the panel since he had “compromised his position”.

Vadra too took to social media to take potshots at the probe ordered by the Haryana government. In a Facebook post, Vadra wrote, “Almost a decade of governments false and baseless accusations on me! They cannot prove anything without proof, and there is nothing there to prove… I will always be used for political gains, I know… But I will walk with my head held high, as in time and with the truth which will conquer incorrect perceptions, that are created about me.”

When his comments were sought on the Congress attack, Justice Dhingra said, “I have always done my job without fear or favour. If somebody wants to make a pre-emptive strike before waiting for my report, what can I do? It doesn’t change anything, it would have no effect on the report.”

As first reported by The Indian Express, the commission is of the prima facie opinion that some actions of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda were “contrary to law”, one reason why it asked Hooda to appear before it to answer questions. But Hooda did not appear.

Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala said: “Documents now available in public domain demonstrate that Justice S N Dhingra has compromised his position, rendering himself not being able to submit such a report.”

“Justice S N Dhingra is also head of Justice Gopal Singh Charitable Trust. This trust was gifted land in Gurgaon itself by a private individual. Why? Why only this trust and nobody else? Secondly, Justice S N Dhingra writes on December 8, 2015 to Deputy Commissioner Gurgaon, where his headquarter is stationed, saying that out of public exchequer funds, a road should be constructed,” Surjewala alleged.

“Deputy Commissioner, on the same day with great alacrity and urgency, says within a week construct the road out of district plan funds. When they see district plan funds cannot be utilised, Chief Minister Khattar, who is also the head of rural development board, proceeds to sanction Rs 96 lakh out of HRDA funds on March 31, 2016,” he said.

“The simple point is that once a judge who is supposed to be completely non-prejudiced and non-biased has compromised his position, does he remain fit to present such a report. Caesar’s wife must always be above suspicion. So, prejudice and bias have compromised the position of Justice Dhingra,” he said.

Reacting to the Congress allegations, Justice Dhingra said, “The trust is not mine. It was set up by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Gopal Singh, who did not have any child, and who donated his entire property to the trust. The trust runs a charitable hospital in Gurgaon. In 2011, after my retirement, I was approached by the other trustees to take over as chairman, which I accepted.”

“Sometime back, one Harish Chakravarty offered to donate some land to the trust to run a school in his mother’s name. Since a school wasn’t possible, the trust decided to start a skill centre to provide skill education to people, especially young children, of nearby areas. The trust spent about Rs 10 lakh to set up the centre. I wrote to the Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner to construct a road to the centre. Where is the wrongdoing? It is only for the benefit of the people,” he said.

In the run-up to the 2014 Haryana assembly elections, the BJP had said it would probe the grant of licences if it came to power since it allegedly involved Skylight Hospitality of Robert Vadra. The BJP alleged that the company struck a questionable deal with real estate major DLF after the Hooda government granted change of land use certificate to land owned by the company in Shikohpur village.