Robert Vadra: No loan from bank; how was Manesar land bought?

New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra is now in a fix to explain the overdraft in his balance sheet. Sources close to Vadra now say no loan was taken from the Corporation Bank, so there was no question of any overdraft. Sources add it is a standard practice to issue cheques of higher values than what's there in an account, if there is possibility of that amount coming into the account at a later stage.

Sources say that Vadra cannot explain at this stage as to how the money for the entire 3.5 acres of the Manesar plot was arranged. On Tuesday, top HDFC bank officials had told CNN-IBN that their internal probe reveals no loan was given to Vadra.

The big question now is that if Vadra's company Sky Light hospitality wasn't taking or repaying loan to Corporation Bank, what was the need to issue a cheque to a third party for 7.94 crore? Also, how did Vadra pay this sum of Rs 7.94 cr? Did the party to whom he paid the cheque of Rs 7.94 crore really encash the cheque? Sky Light will also have to answer as to how it showed an overdraft of Rs 7.94 crore from Corporation Bank in the balance sheet.

However, the Congress has been continuing to remain in denial even as the Haryana government was forced to order a probe into the Robert Vadra-DLF Manesar deal. This came even as CNN-IBN accessed more evidence of Robert Vadra's land deals in Haryana. The Congress continued to stress that there was no solid evidence against Vadra. Speaking to CNN-IBN, Congress spokesperson Manish tewari said, "You had a press conference where allegations were made, prima facie they were found to be untrue. A second set of allegations were made by an officer who has an axe to grind or a certain angst against a transfer order and when the details emerged, facts were found to be totally contradictory to what he's been saying since Tuesday morning. No evidence has emerged in the public space except for baseless innuendo about quid pro quo."

Even as the Opposition attacked the Congress alleging a 'witch hunt' in transferring Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka for probing the Vadra-DLF deal, the Congress refuted all claims. "The allegations are baseless. There is no witch hunt. We do not question the integrity of the officer. It is prerogative of the government to transfer any bureaucrat. The Chief Secretary will be able to brief about the reasons behind the transfer", party General Secretary BK Hari Prasad said.

Criticising Khemka's transfer, BJP said Congress is suffering from an "Emergency mindset" and demanded that an impartial inquiry be held into the matter. "Congress is in complete shambles and in doldrums. It is trying to save Robert Vadra. We want an honest and impartial probe into the charges. An honest officer with integrity who has decided to take suo moto action has been transferred. That too at 10 pm," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

Stepping up the heat, activist Arvind Kejriwal said, "Haryana Chief Minister ought to answer to the country why has Khemka been transferred. What is transfer policy for IAS officers in Haryana? Under that policy, can officer be transferred merely because he was investigating Vadra?"

The Haryana government has been forced to order a probe into the Vadra-DLF Manesar land deal worth Rs 58 crore. This came after Ashok Khemka cancelled the land mutation saying it violated the state's Consolidation Act. But the Hooda government also questioned Khemka's decison to scrap mutation in the Vadra-DLF deal without giving the affected parties a chance to give their version.

Khemka said that he suspected that the Punjab and Haryana High Court order was used as a pretext to transfer him out. Speaking exclusively to IBN-18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Khemka said, "I was conducting inquiry since October 8 after reading media reports. I questioned the officer of the revenue department who was not willing to give me data for inquiry. Subsequently I was transferred."

Asserting that he was not an "escapist", the IAS officer said that his duty was to correct the legality and he did that. He said, "I suspect I was shifted after I ordered probe into Vadra-DLF land deal."

Speaking to CNN-IBN, the IAS officer said he suspected he was transferred for initiating probe into Vadra-DLF land deals.

"If the Haryana government knew I would succumb to pressure, they would not have transferred me...I chose to act even though it involved a super VVIP," said Khemka, adding "I would continue my fight no matter how much I am hounded".