Congress today came down hard on Justice Dhingra Commission that went into the controveresial land deals of Robert Vadra, accusing it as also BJP governments at the Centre and Haryana of running a campaign of slander and vilification.
The party's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala sought to take the sting out of the report of the commission, contending that since it had not summoned either Vadra or former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda under relevant sections of the Commission of Inquiry Act, adverse comments cannot be made against them.
"No one can be condemned unheard is a basic doctrine of natural justice. The Commission of Inquiry Act contains this fundamental principle. The Act says no adverse finding can be given against any person without giving an opportunity of being heard," he told reporters.
Holding that the party would give a detailed and studied response on the report of the commission submitted to the Haryana government once it is made public, he said that the way the report has been "leaked" to the media beforehand showed that the "sole intent is to defame".
"The sole intent is to defame, conspire and malign rather than examine the facts fairly. This shows the malintent and sinister conspiracy of Government of Haryana, of BJP and even the commission itself," Surjewala said in a sharp reaction.
Surjewala, who was a minister in the erstwhile Bhupinder Singh Hooda government, said, "The BJP governments at the Centre and in Haryana have run a political agenda of vendetta and revenge for years."
He claimed that the constitution of Justice Dhingra Commission was a "mere cog" in that wheel of "malicious witch-hunt", propagated by BJP.
Targeting the panel, he said the commission is a "still-born commission". This, he claimed, was because Justice Dhingra had "compromised" his position by accepting gift of land and making the government spend public money on his trust.
Noting that Justice Dhingra has rendered himself "ineligible" to deliver justice in the matter, he asked, "Why should a judge, examining licensing policy in Gurgaon, accept a gift of land for the trust free of cost from any person.
"There is till date not a whisper of any wrong doing, any violation of the law, policy, rules or regulation," he said.
Seeking to take the battle to BJP's court, he recalled that the Haryana government has issued a new policy which liberally permits change in developer and transfer of joint development rights. "Should a commission of inquiry be constituted against the Khattar government and BJP?" he wondered.
Surjewala said that the circumstances and facts clearly
suggest that Justice Dhinga has been unable to appreciate this "conspiracy of name-calling and maligning without an iota of evidence".
He also contended that "naked prejudice" is apparent in the very constitution of the commission from one simple fact.
Elaborating, he said 33,697.57 acres of land have been licensed in Haryana.
"Out of this, the commission was asked to inquire into only 16 cases of commercial licences totaling a mere 63.40 acres in Secror-83, Gurgaon only because it included a licence measuring 2.7 acres owned by Skylight Hospitality Private Limited of Robert Vadra," he said.
In its report to the Haryana government on land deals allegedly involving Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, the panel has apparently found irregularities in the deals.
