FIR registered against Robert Vadra, former Haryana CM BS Hooda
NEW DELHI : A FIR has been lodged against Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in connection with an alleged land purchase scam in Gurugram.
The case pertains to a piece of land in Shikohpur village of Sector-83, Gurugram and the FIR has been registered in Kherki Daula police station. Besides, DLF Company Gurugram and Onkareshwar Properties have also been booked in the case.
The case has been registered under Sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document), of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.
The cases relates to the fraudulent land transaction by Sky Light Hospitality Private Limited, owned by Robert Vadra. The FIR has been filed on the complaint of Surendra Sharma, a resident of Mewat.
An FIR against Hooda, Vadra, Director Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd and DLF, among others, has been registered at Kherki Daula police station in Gurgaon, Manesar Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Kumar said. “We received a complaint today from one Surinder Sharma, resident of Nuh, in which he alleged irregularities in the land deals,” he said.
The Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government had set up a commission in 2015 to probe into the licences given by the earlier Hooda-led Congress government for the development of housing colonies and commercial complexes in four Gurgaon villages.
Robert Vadra, however, rejected all charges against him and said that the FIR has been registered to divert attention from real issues like increase of oil prices. “It’s election season… there is an increase in oil prices… so let’s divert the real issues of people with Robert Vadra’s decade old issue,” Vadra sarcastically remarked.
“We received a complaint today from one Surinder Sharma, resident of Nuh, in which he alleged irregularities in the land deals,” Manesar Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Kumar told news agency PTI. Real estate developer DLF and Omkareshwar Properties have also been named in the FIR.
The FIR says that Mr Vadra’s company Sky Light Hospitality purchased land in Gurgaon’s Sector 83, Shikohpur, Sikandarpur, Khedki Daula and Sihi for Rs. 7.5 crore and sold it back for Rs. 55 crore after a change in its classification.
Mr Vadra, however, denied the charges, saying it was attempt to distract people from “real issues”. “It’s election season… there is an increase in oil prices… so let’s divert the real issues of people… what’s new?” he said.
Mr Vadra has been investigated for allegedly getting sweetheart land deals in Haryana when the Congress governed the state. A report by a judge has been shared with CM Manohar Lal Khattar who took charge of the Haryana after the BJP displaced the Congress in 2014. The report has not yet been made public.
Vadra, a day earlier, had said various allegations against him of being part of fraudulent land deals are baseless. “I am right here in the country. I have not escaped to a foreign country, have I? If there are any questions and queries, I would oblige with it,” he had told news agency AI.
