Vadra pocketed large premium on colony license: Khemka

August 10, 2013

Vadra_pocketed
Chandigarh, Aug 10: Robert Vadra's land deals in a village in Haryana have returned to haunt the Congress party and its chief with whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka alleging that Vadra "falsified documents" for 3.53 acres of land in Gurgaon and "pocketed" large premium on a commercial colony license.

In his "voluminous reply" submitted to Haryana government's three-member enquiry committee set up in October last to look into Vadra-DLF deal, Khemka is understood to have alleged that Vadra, who is Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, executed a series of "sham transactions" for 3.53 acres of land in Shikohpur village of Gurgaon.

Vadra "pocketed" a huge premium on a commercial license through money that he could account for, Khemka alleged.

The IAS officer alleged that the Haryana's Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) "ignored rules and regulations to allow crony capitalists operating as middlemen to flourish and appropriate market premium of a license."

"The DTCP aided Vadra in making these sham transactions," he alleged.

Khemka, who submitted his reply on May 21, says that both the sale deed of February 12, 2008 through which Vadra's company 'Skylight Hospitality' bought land from 'Onkareshwar Properties' and Letter of Intent for granting a commercial license to his company issued by DTCP in March 2008 are "sham transactions" made to enable Vadra to collect market premium.

"If there was no payment as alleged in the registered deed, can it it be said that the registered deed conferred ownership title over the said land upon Skylight Hospitality by virtue of the sham sale," he questions.

Khemka, who had cancelled a land mutuation deal between Vadra and DLF last October, claims that "there was no promise to pay in the future in the registered deed."

No price was paid as claimed in the registered deed. The sale registered in the said deed cannot, therefore, be called a "sale" in true sense of the term, legal or moral and it cannot be said that Skylight

Hospitality became owner of the land in question by virtue of sale registered in the deed, Khemka is understood to have said in his report running into some 100 pages.

While Khemka's reply has gone public, the officer, on being approached by PTI here said, "I will not speak to the media on this issue."

Haryana Chief Secretary P K Chaudhary said, "We are examining the reply (by Khemka)".

The Haryana government's committee had earlier this year concluded that the orders passed by Khemka initiating an enquiry into Vadra's land deals were "without jurisdiction, inappropriate and not covered under any provisions of any statute or rules."

Besides, the committee also held that the order by Khemka cancelling the land mutation was improper.

Demanding a white paper on the transfer of all such licenses permitted in the past to expose the "loot of public wealth," Khemka writes that the DTCP had issued various types of colony licences for a total of 21,3666 acres in the last eight years of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government's tenure between 2005 to 2012.

He points that if the market premium for a colony licence is assumed to be as low as Rs one crore per acre, the land licensing scam in the past eight years is worth around Rs 20,000 crore.

"At the premium of Rs 15.78 crore per acre that Vadra earned, this figure would jump to Rs 3.5 lakh crore," he claims.

He alleged in the letter the DTCP permitted Skylight to transfer the license to DLF in April 2012 and the licensed land was finally sold to DLF on September 18, 2012.

"By allowing the transfer of license issued in the name of Skylight to DLF, the DTCP created a black market for trading in licenses where cronies are issued licenses which are later sold or transferred with permission of the authority for a fat consideration to the real developers," he writes.

On August 5, 2008 Skylight Hospitality entered into an unregistered collaboration agreement with DLF Universal.

Khemka observes that this led to loss of crores of revenue to the state exchequer due to a collaboration agreement of this kind has to be registered.

The opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has demanded a probe into the reply by Khemka by a sitting judge of the High Court.

INLD leader Abhay Chautala, who is also MLA from Ellenabad, said his party had thrice raised this issue in the Vidhan Sabha, but the Speaker always tried to suppress it.

"All such transactions are done by the Hooda government to appease Sonia," he alleged

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
November 15,2024

amitshah.jpg

Union minister Amit Shah on Friday, November 15, said PM Narendra Modi will amend the Waqf Act despite opposition from leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

"Modi ji wants to change the Waqf Board law, but Uddhav ji, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule are opposing it," Shah said, addressing a rally at Umarkhed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district.

"Uddhav ji, listen carefully, you all can protest as much as you want, but Modi ji will amend the Waqf Act," he said. Shah said there are two camps in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, one of 'Pandavas' represented by the BJP-led Mahayuti and the other of 'Kauravas' represented by Maha Vikas Aghadi.

"Uddhav Thackeray claims that his Shiv Sena is the real one. Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar? Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar? The real Shiv Sena stands with the BJP," Shah said.

"Rahul Baba used to say that his government would credit money in the accounts of the people instantly. You were unable to fulfil your promises in Himachal, Karnataka, and Telangana," he said.

Shah said the Mahayuti alliance has promised that women will get Rs 2,100 per month under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. "Kashmir is an integral part of India and no power in the world can snatch it away from us," Shah said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
November 11,2024

birensingh.jpg

The Manipur Kuki MLAs have released a statement calling out Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's 'lies' in the Supreme Court. In a joint statement, the MLAs, including those from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said they had not had any meeting with the Chief Minister since May 3, 2023, nor did they intend to meet him in the future as “he was the mastermind behind the violence”.

As per the MLAs, the SG lied about state CM N Biren Singh speaking to Kuki MLAs to control the situation there, in order to halt a Supreme Court probe into the leaked tapes which allege that Singh has been complicit in the violence that broke out between Kukis and Meitis there.

"We...clarify that we have never had any meeting with Chief Minister, Shri N. Biren Singh since May 3, 2023, nor have any intention to meet him in future as he is the mastermind behind the violence and ethnic cleansing of our people from the Imphal valley, which is continuing till today, the latest being the brutal killing and burning of Mrs Zosangkim Hmar on November 7, 2024," the letter read, while condemning the recent 'barbaric' killing of the woman there, and noting the SG's assertion is 'tantamount' to misleading the top court.

“We, the undersigned ten MLAs, have come to know that during the Supreme Court hearing held on November 8, 2024, the Solicitor General of India submitted that ‘CM is meeting all Kuki MLAs and trying to bring the situation down to get peace’. In this connection, we hereby categorically state that this submission is a blatant lie and tantamount to misleading the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” the statement said.

The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition by a Kuki organisation, asked that it submit audio tapes to substantiate its claim that the Chief Minister was instrumental in inciting and organising violence in the northeastern State.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta orally informed the court that the Chief Minister was meeting all the Kuki-Zo MLAs and that peace in the State had come at a huge cost.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
November 12,2024

ikramuddinkamil.jpg

The Taliban regime has appointed Ikramuddin Kamil as the acting consul in the Afghan mission in Mumbai, Afghan media has reported.

It is the first such appointment made by the Taliban set up to any Afghan mission in India.

There was no immediate comment from the Indian side on the appointment that came.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan has announced the appointment of Kamil as the acting consul in Mumbai, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

"He is currently in Mumbai, where he is fulfilling his duties as a diplomat representing the Islamic Emirate," it said.

The appointment is part of Kabul's efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties with India and enhance its presence abroad, the media outlet said

Kamil holds a PhD degree in international law and previously served as the deputy director in the department of security cooperation and border affairs in the foreign ministry, it said.

He is expected to facilitate consular services and represent the interests of Afghanistan in India, the report added.

Kamil's appointment comes days after the external affairs ministry's point-person for Afghanistan held talks with the Taliban's acting defence minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, in Kabul.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, also posted on X about Kamil's appointment.

The appointment of Kamil is seen as part of efforts to facilitate consular services to the Afghan population in Mumbai.

There has been almost negligible presence of diplomatic staff at the Afghan missions in India.

Most of the diplomats appointed by the Ashraf Ghani government have already left India.

In May, Zakia Wardak, the seniormost Afghan diplomat in India, resigned from her position after reports emerged that she was caught at the Mumbai airport for allegedly trying to smuggle 25 kg of gold worth Rs 18.6 crore from Dubai.

Wardak had taken charge as the acting ambassador of Afghanistan to New Delhi late last year, after working as the Afghan consul general in Mumbai for more than two years.

She took charge of the Afghan embassy in New Delhi last November, after the mission helmed by then ambassador Farid Mamundzay announced its closure.

Mamundzay, who was an appointee of the Ghani government, had moved to the United Kingdom.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.