Decision to set up Dhingra panel was unilateral, HC told

CHANDIGARH: Less than a fortnight after former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda claimed that the Justice SN Dhingra Commission was appointed by the Chief Minister in his individual capacity without any reference to the Cabinet, the government was again attacked for the unilateral decision.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 8

Less than a fortnight after former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda claimed that the Justice SN Dhingra Commission was appointed by the Chief Minister in his individual capacity without any reference to the Cabinet, the government was again attacked for the unilateral decision.

Former union minister and senior advocate Kapil Sibal said Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had taken the unilateral decision of constituting the one-man commission that probed land deals in Gurgaon, including those of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra.

Sibal submitted the decision was taken merely on the basis of newspaper reports. A single note was prepared by the CM himself, without sufficient material before the government. Taking up the matter, the Bench of Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal and Justice Ramendra Jain fixed December 13 as the next date of hearing.

Haryana Advocate-General BR Mahajanhad verbally assured the Bench on a previous date of hearing that Justice Dhingra’s report would not be published till the next date of hearing.

The court was informed that the Chief Minister ordered the appointment of the Justice Dhingra Commission on May 13, 2015, . It was to look into the “grant of licences for developing commercial colonies by the Department of Town and Country Planning to some entities in Gurgaon’s Sector 83 and their subsequent transfer/disposal, allegations of private enrichment, ineligibility of the beneficiaries or matters incidental thereto and connected therewith”.

The counsel said the very next day a notification was issued by the state government without any reference to the Cabinet, mandatory in terms of Section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act.