Robert Vadra owned excess land in Haryana: Report

CHANDIGARH: Robert Vadra's murky land deals in Haryana have come back to haunt him. A probe by two senior officers of the Haryana government has found that his company Skylight Hospitality owned land way beyond the prescribed limit in the state at a time when he got the licence for the controversial land in Shikhopur in Gurgaon.

Haryana's director, land records and consolidation of holdings (DLR) and the additional chief secretary (revenue) have told the government that Vadra's company owned 79 acres in the state in 2008. The Haryana Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972 states that total physical holding of a person or family cannot exceed 53.8 acres.

The state revenue department has sought permission from Manohar Lal Khattar's BJP government to take action against Vadra for failing to declare surplus land. The reports of both the officers are combined and are lying in the office of state revenue minister Capt Abhimanyu since December 17. If the recommendations are accepted, action against Vadra can be initiated for violating of laws, which invite a sentence of up to two years in jail.

The report makes clear the web of complex land deals that Vadra made in Haryana over the years. It states that on January 9, 2008, his cumulative land holdings in Haryana had reached 56.75 acres, already beyond the permissible limit.