‘Financial information of Robert Vadra corporations destroyed in floods’: Bank tells SIT

In a major revelation, the Union Bank of India has knowledgeable a Haryana police particular investigation group (SIT) that essential monetary transaction information for the years 2008 and 2012 of the businesses run by Robert Vadra had been destroyed because of “water flooding the basement of the branch.”

The ongoing investigation by the SIT focuses on an FIR registered in opposition to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Vadra, and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The case is said to an alleged corruption-riddled actual property deal that garnered consideration in the course of the 2014 parliamentary elections and was emblematic of corruption accusations in opposition to the Congress-led UPA authorities on the time.

According to a report by Times of India, the SIT approached the Union Bank of India on twenty sixth May 2023, asking for info concerning fund influx within the accounts of Skylight Hospitality and Skylight Realty, each corporations the place Vadra held directorial positions. The financial institution, in its response, revealed that the information for 2008 and 2012 had been irreparably broken because of flooding within the basement of its department.

Following this disclosure, the SIT took additional motion by issuing notices to UBI to establish if information of different companies have additionally been misplaced. On twentieth June 2023, a discover was dispatched to the financial institution’s New Friends Colony department in New Delhi to research the circumstances surrounding the destruction of related information belonging to Skylight Hospitality and Skylight Realty.

The financial institution has not but responded to this. The investigation into the case commenced on 1st September 2018, after the BJP-led authorities in Haryana filed an FIR naming Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Robert Vadra, actual property large DLF, Onkareshwar Properties, and Skylight Hospitality because the accused events in reference to a land deal.

The SIT has been probing the allegations associated to the deal. Notably, the investigative group has been bolstered by the inclusion of IAS officer Mukul Kumar, former chief city planner and RERA Panchkula member Dilbag Singh, and a authorized advisor, showcasing the federal government of CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s dedication to pursuing the case severely.

Gurugram land rip-off case

A resident of Gurugram named Surendra Sharma of the Rathiwas village had filed an FIR in opposition to Robert Vadra, Bhupinder Hooda, and others in September 2018, alleging that Vadra’s agency Skylight Hospitality had purchased 3.5 acres of land in Shikohpur village (Now Sector 83) in Gurugram from one Omkareswar Properties for 7.5 crores in 2008. The FIR had alleged that large irregularities had occurred within the deal and Hooda had favored Vadra costing the exchequer enormous losses.

In 2018, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a cost sheet in opposition to former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in reference to a significant land acquisition rip-off. The cost sheet was filed within the particular CBI court docket situated in Panchkula, Haryana. The similar yr, the Haryana authorities gave a go-ahead to the Haryana police to probe the 1500 crore Manesar land deal case. Vadra can be going through a probe in land seize circumstances in Rajasthan.

One of the central accusations within the case revolves round Skylight Hospitality, an organization related to Robert Vadra, buying 3.5 acres of land in Shikohpur, Gurgaon, from Onkareshwar Properties in February 2008 for Rs 7.5 crore. Subsequently, after acquiring a business license, the identical property was allegedly bought by Skylight Hospitality to DLF for Rs 58 crore. According to the allegations, the Hooda authorities facilitated this land deal by allocating 350 acres in Wazirabad, Gurgaon, to DLF.

However, the tehsildar of Manesar supplied a contrasting account, stating that Skylight Hospitality did certainly promote the three.5 acres to DLF Universal Limited on 18th September 2012, and the transaction was reported to have complied with all laws and guidelines.