Chandigarh: In major relief to former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Punjab & Haryana High Court on Thursday held as ‘unsustainable’ the Dhingra Commission report against him in the alleged ‘shady’ land deals during his tenure. The court also restrained the government from publishing the report.
A two-judge Division Bench of Justices Anupinder Singh Grewal and AK Mittal, however, differed in their judgments, referring the matter to the court of Chief Justice Krishna Murari who will in turn refer it to a third-judge.
While the Division Bench upheld the appointment of the Commission ‘in public interest’, at the same time it observed that the due process under law was not followed in summoning Hooda. The Section 8B of Commission of Inquiry Act was not followed, it said. Hooda had challenged the report stating that it was not in public interest and was driven by political vendetta.
“I have said it many a times that it was politically motivated. There was no such reason for the government to set up a Commission. No irregularities took place during my tenure. I welcome the court’s judgment", said Hooda.
The Bench also differed on the issue of the Commission freshly summoning Hooda and issuing a fresh report, with Justice Mittal supporting it while Justice Grewal opining that since the term of the Commission had expired, it could no longer summon the ex-chief minister.
Baldev Raj Mahajan, Attorney General, Haryana too hailed the verdict. “The High Court in its order today made it clear that the appointment of the Dhingra Commission was in accordance with the Law. The Chief Minister was competent to do it and the decision was cleared by the cabinet. The court has held that the appointment was in public interest. There was no malafide intent on the part of the government. It is a victory for the government as the allegations levelled against it have fallen flat", he said.
The Dhingra Commission was set up by the Manohar Lal government in 2015 to probe that land licences in Gurugram were granted by flouting norms during the Hooda-led Congress regime. Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was among the alleged beneficiaries.
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