Headlines
Vadra land deals: BJP sees massive scam; Khemka feels 'vindicated'
Chandigarh, March 26
A day after the CAG
blamed Haryana's previous Congress government for showering favours on
party chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, who made millions in
controversial land deals, the BJP, which now rules the state, claimed a
"massive scam" during the nearly 10-year tenure of the Bhupinder Singh
Hooda government.
Bureaucrat Ashok Khemka, who had questioned a
land deal of Vadra, said the report "vindicated" his action but did not
go deep enough, while the Congress defended the former Hooda government,
saying all decisions were in accordance with the law.
"The
public was always convinced there was a massive scam in Haryana,"
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said on
Thursday.
"It just confirms the allegations that were being
made... Vadra's company was extended undue favours and he made massive
gains by misusing the authorities," Rao told IANS.
"The Congress
government had bent all rules allowing them to make windfall gains.
Action will be taken by the state government, the report (of CAG) has
already been tabled," he said.
Senior IAS officer Khemka, who was
embroiled in controversy over Vadra's land deals, on Thursday tweeted:
"My action in VADRA-DLF land-licence deal vindicated in CAG report, but
continue to suffer the stigma of chargesheet."
He, however, noted
there were more issues to be probed yet. "Many issues untouched in the
CAG report. Cycle of corruption involved the triad - business, politics
and bureaucracy," he said in another tweet.
The Congress on
Thursday dismissed the CAG rap, claiming its government performed
"purely in accordance with the law" in the land deal.
Party
spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a statement that the state's
principal accountant general (PAG) neither indicted the Hooda government
nor Vadra or his company for any violation of the Haryana Development
and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975, or any rules or policy.
"There is no such finding of wrongdoing as is being sought to be alleged and projected unfairly and incorrectly," he said.
The
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, tabled in the Haryana
assembly on the last day of the budget session which ended on Wednesday,
blamed the Hooda government for showing undue favours to Vadra.
Vadra's
company, Skylight Hospitality, sold a prime 3.5 acre plot in Manesar,
Gurgaon, to DLF in 2008 for Rs.58 crore. The land had cost his company
only around Rs.15 crore and was sold to DLF after obtaining change of
land use (CLU) and other permissions from the Hooda government.
Vadra did not share the Rs.43 crore profits with the state town and country planning department, the CAG report said.
The
report said the "possibility of extending undue benefit to particular
applicant (Vadra's company) cannot be ruled out." It also questioned the
"distinction" made by the Hooda government for Vadra's company in
giving permissions.
Khemka had ordered the scrapping of the land
deal then, saying that it was illegal and alleging that Vadra's land
deals caused loss of crores of rupees to the state. He also ordered a
probe.
Later, KJhemka was transferred and served a charge sheet
for his actions by the Hooda government, which gave Vadra a "clean
chit".
"Real culprits sit in judgment over me. My pain and
suffering may help to detox and cleanse the body politic," tweeted
Khemka, who is now the secretary and commissioner of Haryana's transport
department, without naming anyone.
The CAG has indicated that
the Hooda government had obliged Vadra with quick sanction of the
permissions required. Some other companies being favoured also figured
in the CAG report.
The controversy became a national issue with
opposition parties alleging that the then Congress government was doing
everything to help Vadra in his land deals in the National Capital
Region and areas around Delhi.