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Vadra land deals
Hooda govt forms panel to probe Khemka claims
Pradeep Sharma/TNS

Chandigarh, October 16
With senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka cancelling the mutation of the Rs 58-crore Robert Vadra-DLF deal in Manesar, the Haryana Government today instituted a high-level inquiry into issues raised by the officer.

The inquiry panel, to be headed by Additional Chief Secretary and two other senior members of the state government, will look into all issues raised by Khemka and the legalities of the actions taken by officials concerned. The inquiry will be completed within a period of one month, said a Haryana Government spokesman.

Earlier on October 15, Khemka - who was allegedly transferred from the post of Haryana’s Director General of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector-General of Registration for “probing land deals” involving Vadra - had cancelled the mutation of a 3.531-acre plot in Manesar-Shikohpur that Vadra had sold to DLF for Rs 58 crore.

On October 12, Khemka issued a letter formally ordering an inquiry across four districts of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Palwal and Mewat into the “alleged under-valuation of some properties registered by Vadra or his companies as vendor or vendee.”

Incidentally, Khemka was transferred by the state government on October 11 night but he joined office on October 15 after passing the Shikohpur land cancellation order.

Khemka cancelled the mutation of the 3.531- acre plot that Vadra’s company, M/s Sky Light Hospitality, which he had sold to DLF on September 18, 2012. In his order, Khemka said the mutation violated the States Consolidation Act and was done not by a revenue officer but by the Assistant Consolidation Officer of Gurgaon, who was not competent to do so.

The inquiry also points out that the action of the sub-registrar, Manesar, in registering the property was “not proper” because the estate of Shikohpur was notified for consolidation in August 2011 and as such transfer/sale of property during the pendency of consolidation proceedings without the sanction of the Consolidation Officer is prohibited.

He also found that the permission given to Vadra on April 3, 2012, by Haryana’s Town and Country Planning Department to sell the property violated the same provision of the Consolidation Act.

The sale deed of this land shows that it was bought by Sky Light Hospitality for Rs 7.5 crore on February 12, 2008, and mutated in its favour the very next day. Over a month later, on March 28, 2008, the Town and Country Planning Department issued Vadra’s company a licence to develop 2.701 acres of the land into a housing colony. The licence was subsequently renewed on January 18, 2011, according to the inquiry report.

Sale deed of this land for Rs 58 crore to DLF was registered on September 18, 2012, the inquiry found that Vadra had “entered into an agreement to sell the land within 65 days of the issue of the first licence.” By October 2009, he had received Rs 50 crore out of the total sale consideration, the first installment of which was made on June 3, 2008. Khemka, in his order, points out: “It is not clear what made the Town and Country Planning Department renew the licence in 2011 in favour of Sky Light Ltd when 86.2 per cent of the total sale money had been paid 15 months before.”

He questioned if Vadra had indeed informed the department about his entering into an agreement to sell the land to DLF on June 3, 2008 (when the first installment was paid). “It is unfathomable how the department could renew the licence in 2011 in his favour, when he had ex-facie entered into agreement to sell within 65 days of the issue of the first licence,” Khemka’s order said.

The Haryana Government, on its part, has claimed that Khemka’s recent transfer has been carried out in compliance with the October 1, 2012, directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The transfer of Khemka was neither out of any malice nor done abruptly but arose out of the administrative exigency due to the high court order, a government spokesman claimed.

On the point of sanctioning of the mutation by the Assistant Consolidation Officer, he said it has been the practice across the state and the Assistant Consolidation Officers have been sanctioning the mutation after due verification of the records.

In an angry letter to the Haryana Chief Secretary protesting his transfer, Khemka had said that it was “grossly unfair to punish me for being upright and exposing the scams and corrupt acts instead of taking action against the guilty.”

Point Counterpoint

Khemka's charge
My transfer is deliberate and mala fide. It is meant to punish me and done at the instance of some vested elements in the political-bureaucratic set-up affected by the exposure of the scam. This happened after I initiated a probe into Vadra properties on October 8, 2012.
Haryana Government's defence
The transfer was neither out of malice nor done abruptly. It was done due to administrative exigency following a high court order. Khemka never mentioned in his letter of October 12, 2012, to the Chief Secretary that the reason for his transfer was because of him cancelling the mutation of Vadra property. Khemka's order regarding alleged undervaluation of property was issued on October 12, 2012, and cancellation of mutation was issued on October 15, 2012, — both after his transfer order on October 11, 2012.
Khemka's charge
Sky Light Hospitality (a Robert Vadra company) had purchased 3.53 acres of land in Shikhopur village, Gurgaon, for Rs 7.5 crore on Feb 12, 2008. The property was resold to DLF Universal for Rs 58 crore on September 18, 2012. But in reality, DLF had paid Sky Light Hospitality Rs 50 crore of the total of Rs 58 crore by 2009 itself — three years before the sale deed. As a result, the property was not only undervalued leading to evasion of stamp duty but also the Town Planning Department wrongly renewed the licence for the said property although ex-facie Sky Light had sold it to DLF within 65 days of issue of the first licence/letter of intent in 2008
Haryana Government's defence
A detailed report was obtained from the Tehsildar-cum-Registrar, Manesar, through the Deputy Commissioner of the deal registered between Sky Light Hospitality and DLF Universal. As per the report, the sale deed of February 12, 2008, and the subsequent land transfer vide sale deed dated September 18, 2012, were way higher than the collector rates. Hence, no loss to revenue has been caused by these sale deeds.
Khemka's charge
The village of Shikhopur under which Sky Light Hospitality had purchased land was notified under section 14 (1) of the East Punjab Holdings (Consolidation and Prevention of Fragmentation) Act 1948 on August 5, 2011. Therefore, transfer of property during the pendency of consolidation proceedings without the sanction of the Consolidation Officer is prohibited. The Town Planning Department's permission to sell the impugned property on April 3, 2012 falls foul of the Act. The action of the Sub-Registrar, Manesar, to register the property on September 18, 2012, when the estate of Shikhopur was under consolidation was also not proper. Hence, I have set aside the mutation of the property on the ground that the Assistant Consolidation Officer who had sanctioned the mutation was not competent to do so.
Haryana Government defence
The Town and Country Planning Department says any land for which licence is granted ceases to fall in the definition of land given in the Consolidation Act. Therefore, the Sky Light land, after getting the licence, was outside the purview of the Consolidation Act. Hence, Khemka had no power to pass any order concerning this land under the Consolidation Act. Also, the agreement to sell does not change the title of the land. Therefore, when the department renewed the licence, the land still belonged to Sky Light and it was given in-principle permission to transfer the licence. The permission was not to sell the land as claimed in Khemka's order. Moreover, the Tehsildar being the Tehsildar-cum-Consolidation Officer has powers to register documents in the capacity as sub-registrar by a notification issued in January 11, 2008. As regards sanction of the mutation by the Assistant Consolidation Officer, as per the land settlement manual, he is authorised to sanction all pending mutations as per records before preparing the scheme of consolidation and update it accordingly. Assistant Consolidation Officer, Gurgaon, over the period of 15 months under question has sanctioned about 150 mutations in Shikhopur along with the mutation for Sky Light Hospitality.