New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation seeking a CBI probe into the licenses granted to several real estate developers in Haryana, including one allegedly associated with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra.
A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw rejected the public interest litigation filed by advocate M.L. Sharma.
Sharma in his plea alleged that several licences were issued to developers and builders for turning 21,366 acres of agricultural land into colonies without complying with the statutory rules.
The decision caused a “serious financial loss of Rs.3.9 lakh crore” to the exchequer, the PIL said.
In the plea, Sharma contended that allocation of licences for developing colonies was contrary to provisions of the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975.
It sought quashing of the June 3, 2013, letter by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Shashi Kant Sharma allegedly rolling back the audit and inquiry into the grant of licence to Skylight Hospitality (Pvt) Ltd. that is said to be associated with Vadra.
The plea contended that the inquiry was ordered by Shashi Kant Sharma’s predecessor Vinod Rai. Sharma claimed that the department of town and country planning (DTCP) issued hundreds of licences for over 21,366 acres of land spread over Gurgaon and other parts of the state from 2005-2012.
The PIL was filed against Skylight Hospitality, Robert Vadra and DLF Universal Limited among others and sought registration of criminal cases against them under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Besides, the petition sought a probe into the land deals entered into by Skylight Hospitality (Pvt) Ltd. and its subsidiaries in Rajasthan.
