Why the Gurugram land controversy is back in focus
With the town and country planning department (TCPD) deciding to cancel the real estate development licence granted to Robert Vadra’s Sky Light Hospitality and subsequently transferred to realty company DLF, the contentious land deal is back in focus seven years after it first created a flutter and put the previous Congress regime in Haryana under a cloud. Hitender Rao takes a close look:
THE LAND TRANSACTION
A 3.53 acre tract in Gurgaon’s sector 83 which Robert Vadra’s company, Sky Light Hospitality (SLH), bought from Onkareshwar Properties for Rs 7.50 crore in 2008 was sold to realty major DLF for Rs 58 crore. This was done after obtaining a real estate development licence for 2.70 acre out of 3.53 acre during the Congress rule.
HOW DID THE ROW ERUPT?
Haryana IAS officer, Ashok Khemka as the then Director General, Consolidation of Holdings set aside the mutation of SLH’s 3.53 acres in 2012 saying the mutation was sanctioned without jurisdiction to give effect to a sale deed by which SLH sold the land to DLF.
THE GOVERNMENT ACTION
The BJP government in Haryana set up a commission of inquiry (CoI) in 2015 to probe issues pertaining to grant of commercial licence to SLH. The high court, however, in 2019 quashed the CoI report, citing procedural flaws and restrained the state government from making it public. The Gurgaon police in 2018 registered a criminal case against Vadra, former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others in this regard.
TRANSFER OF LICENCE
The TCPD had accorded an in-principle approval for transfer of the licence to DLF in April 2012 but the final permission for transfer of licence was not granted. The TCPD has decided to cancel the licence on grounds that title of the land is under a cloud following setting aside of mutation in 2012. Under the law, the licence holder should have a clear title to the land.
THE STATUS OF THE LICENCE
The licence till date is in the name of Sky Light. However since the land was sold by Sky Light to DLF, the realty major had been depositing licence renewal fee to the department on Sky Light’s behalf. The TCPD did not renew the licence after 2012. The only interested party in the matter now is DLF.
IMPACT OF LICENCE CANCELLATION
The DLF can file an appeal before the principal secretary, TCPD. It can also take legal recourse by knocking at the doors of the court.
SCOPE FOR FRESH LICENCE
The realty company can apply for a licence afresh since it holds the title to 3.53 acre in land records despite the 2012 orders of Khemka to set aside the mutation. The orders to set aside the mutation were never given effect by the Gurgaon revenue administration. But with a police investigation going on in a criminal case pertaining to the contentious land deal, the realty major may find it hard to push its case for a fresh licence.