Haryana’s former Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda “illegally” revoked the cancellation of a land deal in Shikohpur, Gurugram, which was carried out in 2008 in favour of Robert Vadra, alleged the Enforcement Directorate before a Delhi court on Thursday.
“The mutation was cancelled by the then Director General of Land Consolidation and Land records-cum-Inspector-General of Registration of Haryana (IAS Ashok Khemka)… the cancellation was revoked illegally by Haryana’s CM,” said ED’s Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain before the court of Special Judge Sushant Changotra.
The deal being mentioned here was the purchase of 3.5 acres of land in Shikohpur from Onkareshwar Properties for Rs 7.5 crore in 2008 and selling the land to DLF four years later for Rs 58 crore by a company named Skylight Hospitality, whose director was Vadra.
“There were irregularities such as false declarations. This company had no capacity to pay. It had only Rs 1 lakh in its capital… the actual payment was made later leading to evasion of stamp duty,” Hossain, who was accompanied by ED’s Special Public Prosecutor NK Matta, argued.
The ED was arguing on its chargesheet, which was filed last Thursday against Vadra and 10 others (eight companies and two persons). The chargesheet was filed a day after the agency attached 43 immovable properties linked to Vadra, Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd and others.
“The seller never encashed the cheque. The buyer didn’t have the capacity to buy. The government was cheated of revenues and stamp duties worth `45 lakh were evaded,” Hossain said.
“The real transaction was 15 crores, not 7.5 crores… all the proceeds of crime flowed to companies owned by Vadra,” he added.
Story continues below this ad
According to sources, the ED’s chargesheet alleged that the sale deed “falsely” stated that the payment was received via cheque, which was actually never encashed. The chargesheet also states, as per sources, that the stamp duty worth `45 lakh was evaded via misdeclaration. The ED has quantified the total proceeds of crime to be worth Rs 58 crore tentatively.
The chargesheet claims that there was pressure on Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) officials from higher authorities to accelerate the process, say sources.
“All pvt. ltd. companies were converted into LLPs (limited liability partnerships) …as the former have more disclosure requirements,” Hossain argued before the Court.
The matter will now be heard on July 31 and the ED will outline the individual roles of all the accused persons in the case. After the ED has concluded its arguments, the Judge is likely to decide whether to take cognizance of the chargesheet or not.
