Police affidavit no ‘clean chit’ for Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Robert Vadra as Skylight-DLF probe continues

It was on September 1, 2018 that an FIR was registered against then UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra, Hooda, and real-estate companies DLF and Onkareshwar Properties on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, fraud and forgery and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Hooda too was named in the FIR that was registered against a total of 33 accused.

The FIR was registered at Gurgaon’s Khedki Daula police station on a complaint lodged by Surender Sharma, a resident of Rathivas village in Haryana’s Nuh district. In his complaint, which formed part of the FIR, Sharma had alleged that “the accused conspired with influential builders, ministers and top government officers, misused their positions and committed a scam worth Rs 5,000 crore”.

The FIR also concerned a 3.5-acre property in Shikohpur village in Gurgaon about which Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka had raised a red flag in 2012 when he was the director general of Consolidation of Land Holdings. The Indian Express had published a series of reports over the past few years on the financial transactions between Skylight Hospitality, DLF and Onkareshwar Properties regarding the land in question.

State government officials Thursday said the special investigation team was yet to conclude its inquiry in the matter. “The FIR (registered in 2018) is yet not cancelled and the investigation is continuing in the case,” a senior officer told The Indian Express.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court is hearing a suo motu matter pertaining to the pendency of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs (sitting or erstwhile) from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. It was in this connection that Gurugram Inspector General of Police (Crime) Dr Raj Shri Sing filed the affidavit Wednesday before the bench of Justices Augustine George Masih and Harpreet Singh Brar.

In the affidavit, Singh also said that before reaching a conclusion in the investigation, the SIT was yet to record statements of certain stakeholders and that certain records or clarifications were yet to be received from various government departments and banks involved in the case.

“A notice has been served to the Union Bank to enquire [about] the status of cheques mentioned in sale deeds and relevant account statement of accounts related to M/s Skylight Hospitality and M/s Skylight Realty,” the affidavit reads.

“Order of chief secretary office to constitute a three-member committee to look into the issues raised by Mr Ashok Khemka, IAS, and the committee report have been obtained and taken on record. Record in relation with 350 acres land is awaited from HSIIDC, Panchkula,” the affidavit further said, adding that a reminder seeking records was sent to the department on March 26.

The SIT has also sent a notice to M/s DLF Universal seeking certain “relevant details” from the real estate company. The SIT has also sought a “clarification/ legal provision regarding the sanction of mutation no. 4515 dated September 20, 2012, of M/s DLF Universal from the additional chief secretary and financial commissioner (revenue and disaster management)”. This was the same mutation that IAS officer Khemka cancelled in October, 2012.

After the FIR was filed in 2018, Hooda had said, “No wrongdoing took place during my tenure. This is a failed government, they are getting these things done to hide their failures. It is a complaint orchestrated by the BJP. When they could not find anything against me in four years, they did this as a result of their frustration.”

In the FIR, the complainant alleged that Vadra’s company M/s Skylight Hospitality, launched in 2007 with a capital of Rs 1 lakh, had within a year, managed to purchase a 3.5-acre land from Onkareshwar Properties for a sale deed value of Rs 7.5 crore. The FIR says Vadra later obtained permission from the Haryana town and country planning department to develop a “commercial colony” on the land and then sold the developer’s licence and land to DLF for Rs 58 crore.

The complainant alleged that the association with Vadra and Hooda also helped DLF in other ways, such as the wrongful allotment of 350 acres of land to it in Wazirabad.

In the affidavit filed in the high court, IG Dr Raj Shri Singh, said, “As on date, eight cases registered against MPs/MLAs in the State of Haryana are under investigation and out of the total, six cases pertained to State Vigilance Bureau of Haryana”.

Mentioning the land transfer case, the affidavit stated, “It was reported by Tehsildar Manesar, Gurugram that Skylight Hospitality sold 3.5 acres [the land in question] to DLF Universal Limited on September 18, 2012 and no regulation/rules have been violated in said transaction. As per the report received from Tehsildar, Wazirabad, Gurugram, it was clearly stated that the land in question has not been found in the name of DLF Universal Limited and the said land still exist in the name of HSVP/HSIIC, Haryana”.

Haryana had constituted a new special investigation team (SIT) on March 22, comprising one deputy commissioner of police, two assistant commissioners of police, one inspector and one assistant sub-inspector for further investigation into the matter.