Justice SN Dhingra on Friday defended himself for seeking more time to submit his report into the alleged benami land deals involving Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra.
"The report was ready and I was going to submit it but I asked for an extension only to probe the new documents. I would have submitted the report if an extension was not given to me," he said.
A row has erupted over allegations that the Dhingra Commission was not summoning Vadra or Ashok Khemka, the senior bureaucrat who tried to cancel the deal.
"Allegations made against me are false. There is no conflict of interest. I have not taken or asked the government of Haryana to make an undertaking on my behest after becoming the head of the probe panel," he said.
He also added that he won't seek any further extension and will submit the report on August 31.
Asking for more time, Dhingra had written to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar saying that he needed more time to complete the probe as new documents - like sale deeds, documents pertaining to benami transactions - were given to him at the last hour.
He claimed that the documents were given to him by a "private person" but did not name the person.
"Looking at the documents I am of the opinion that the documents need to be studied and examined in detail. I would require more time to study documents," Dhingra's e-mail to the CM read.
The commission was set up by the Khattar government in May 2015 to probe issues over the grant of license(s) for developing commercial colonies by the Department of Town and Country Planning to some entities in Sector 83, Gurgaon.
The Commission, headed by the former judge, was to probe transfer or disposal of land, allegations of private enrichment, ineligibility of beneficiaries under the rules, and other connected matters, bringing Vadra land deal under the scanner.
It was asked to submit its report within six months from the date of its first sitting.
BJP had made the land deals under the previous Congress government in Haryana a major poll issue during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, alleging rules were relaxed to favour a few including Vadra.
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