Haryana to order judicial probe

Naveen S Garewal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 26

The Haryana Government has decided to order a judicial inquiry into the land deals of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra. The probe will be conducted by a Supreme Court judge and the terms of reference are being worked upon to determine the scope of the inquiry commission.

The move comes a day after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled a report in the Assembly alleging that the previous Congress government, led by former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had extended “undue favours” to Vadra that cost the state exchequer nearly Rs 42 crore.

The government is trying to understand the extent of “plundering” done by the previous Congress regime and once the nature and scope of the “illegality” is ascertained, the inquiry commission will be announced.

Talking to The Tribune, BJP national secretary and Haryana in-charge Anil Jain said he could not specify any timeframe for announcing this inquiry commission, but it would be done soon. “The government has looked at the omissions and commissions that took place during the Congress rule. The Comptroller and Auditor General report released yesterday has established the charges against Vadra as true,” Jain said.

He, however, added that the Comptroller and Auditor General report was only suggestive and not binding, so the state government was doing its own homework on the issue. “The commission of inquiry in all likelihood will be headed by a Supreme Court judge, but it could even be a High Court judge if the government so desires,” Jain said.

He clarified that the commission of inquiry would not be limited to the Vadra deal, but would have a wider scope to examine all Change of Land Use (CLUs) done during the Hooda government.

When asked if this would include a check on the CLUs done by former Congress leaders who had now joined the BJP, some 

even enjoying high positions, Jain said: “The final terms of reference will be settled soon.”

With regard to the delay in announcing this commission, he said most of the BJP legislators in the government were novices and had taken time to understand the functioning of the government.

“We did not want to do anything in a hurry as our agenda is not to be vindictive. We just want to expose the wrongdoings. Vadra and Hooda are not our priorities, but we will not let them off the hook,” he said.