Vadra land deals: BJP's political witch-hunt for Gandhis, cries Congress

Congress leaders calls it a BJP ploy to target Gandhi's

Miffed over Justice Dhingra panel report on controversial land deals of Robert Vadra being leaked selectively to the media, Congress blamed BJP and the Manohar Lal government in Haryana for the move. The Congress party labelled this a political witch-hunting.

The Congress deployed senior spokesperson and Supreme Court lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi to defend Vadra, who cited a Punjab and Haryana High Court order banning publication of the Dhingra panel report and questioned its contents.

According to Singhvi, no notices were sent either to Vadra or party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was chief minister when the said land deals took place, in violation of established rules. The Congress leader referred to two cases involving BJP leaders L K Advani and Kiran Bedi where the courts ruled that notices under section 8-B of the commission of inquiry act have to be sent to a person before a panel can conduct a probe against him or her.

This lapse he said rendered the panel report null and void.

According to the Dhingra report, Vadra's firm Skylight Hospitality got favourable licenses in purchase of land in 2008 and benefited to the tune of Rs 50 crore in violation of procedures. The Dhingra report further said that Vadra's wife Priyanka Gandhi's agricultural land in Amirpur village was also under the panel's scanner. Priyanka has distanced herself from the land deals of her businessman husband.

Priyanka said that agricultural land bought by her in Haryana's Faridabad district or other property acquired by her had no links to finances of her husband, his Skylight Hospitality or reality major DLF. She said that six years prior to the alleged "land deal involving Skylight Hospitality" on April 28, 2006, she purchased 40 kanal (five acres) agricultural land in Amipur village of Faridabad. She said land was purchased for Rs 15 lakh through cheque, which comes to Rs 3 lakh per acre.

The statement said the funds for the purchase came from rental income of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from property inherited by her from her grandmother Indira Gandhi.

Priyanka resold the land to the original vendor pursuant to a right of first refusal on February 17, 2010, (four years later) for Rs 80 lakh through cheque, that is Rs 16 lakh per acre and the prevailing market rate at that time.

The statement said any allegations that besmirch her reputation will be based on certain questionable documents and represent a deliberate, politically motivated and malicious campaign to besmirch and destroy her reputation.

"This is a usual practice of the BJP. To target somebody they get reports leaked to malign a person's image," said Singhvi.

Union minister Venkaiah Naidu rejected the charge that either the CMO or the PMO was behind the Dhingra report being leaked.

The Justice Dhingra commission was constituted in 2015 to investigate a mutation of land deal between Skylight Hospitality and realty major DLF. The panel had submitted its report to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on August 31, 2016. The state government sent the report in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court last week.

Congress leaders said this was a BJP ploy to target the Gandhi's as Vadra is related to the first family of the grand old party. Earlier, the Congress had attacked Justice Dhingra accusing him of having taken favours from the state government for getting a road constructed near his house.