SC throws out PIL against Vadra, slams petitioner

The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a petition seeking Central Bureau of Investigation probe into licences granted to several realtors for developing colonies in Haryana, including a firm with which Robert Vadra is associated, and instead criticised the petitioner.

While dismissing the public interest litigation filed by advocate M L Sharma, a bench of Justices H L Dattu and Ranjan Gogoi said that a PIL cannot be used to target and bring down the reputation of one person or for gaining cheap publicity.

"Why did you choose only one person? Let us clarify that in the name of PIL we are not going to sully the name of a particular person. Merely because he is related to a political family, you cannot call him a sinner," the bench observed.

Vadra is the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, president of the Congress and chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance.

The bench also questioned advocate Sharma, who filed the petition, on other points of his plea in which he sought to quash a decision of the state government.

The bench, while appreciating Sharma's work in the recent past on various issues, said that he should focus on good work instead of indulging in publicity stunts. ''You should channel your energy for people in need instead of seeking cheap publicity," the bench said.

Sharma submitted that the plea was not targeting any person but was only pointing out Vadra's name as one of the cases.

The petition had also sought quashing of the order for stopping an audit inquiry against a colony licence issued to Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd with which Vadra is said to be associated.

The petitioner had claimed that Haryana's Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) issued hundreds of licences for over 21,000 acres land spread over Gurgaon and other parts of the state during 2005 to 2012.

Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka had alleged in a report that Vadra had falsified documents to execute a series of fraudulent transactions for the sale of 3.5 acres of land in Gurgaon to real estate developer DLF for a kickback of Rs58 crore.

The Haryana government has strongly denied giving preferential treatment to Vadra.