No—not in the sense that Haryana had closed the criminal case or a court had cleared every allegation. In April 2023, a police affidavit reported a Tehsildar’s view that no rules were violated in the specified Skylight Hospitality-to-DLF land transfer. But the 2018 FIR remained active and the investigation was continuing. Separately, Scroll’s Project Electoral Bond investigation reported that DLF Group donated ₹170 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds between October 2019 and November 2022. The reporting establishes those two facts; it does not establish that the donation caused or secured the affidavit’s finding.
What does “clean chit” mean in this case?
The phrase compresses a limited statement about one land transaction into language that can sound like a final exoneration. The distinction matters: a reported official view that a transaction complied with rules is not the same as the cancellation of an FIR, completion of an investigation, or a judicial finding that all allegations were false.
| What was reported | What it establishes—and what it does not |
|---|---|
| In an April 2023 affidavit to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, police reported the Tehsildar, Manesar’s view that no rules had been violated in the 18 September 2012 sale of the land from Skylight Hospitality to DLF Universal. | It records a view about the specified transaction. It does not, by itself, establish that the criminal case was over or that a court had ruled on every allegation. |
| The Indian Express reported on 20 April 2023 that the 2018 FIR had not been cancelled and the investigation was continuing. | The criminal inquiry remained open at that time, with records, clarifications and some stakeholder statements still outstanding, according to the report. |
The affidavit wording reproduced by The Indian Express said: “It was reported by Tehsildar Manesar, Gurugram that Skylight Hospitality sold 3.5 acres [the land in question] to DLF Universal Limited on September 18, 2012 and no regulation/rules have been violated in said transaction.” The outlet attributed the continuing-investigation update to a senior state government officer.
How much did DLF donate to the BJP through electoral bonds?
Scroll’s Project Electoral Bond investigation, published on 22 March 2024, reported that DLF Group donated ₹170 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds from October 2019 to November 2022. Scroll reported that DLF Group donated no bonds to any other political party during that period.
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That ₹170 crore is Scroll’s reported aggregate. It should not be mistaken for a total independently recalculated here from the Election Commission of India’s transaction-level files. The reported donations also occurred after the 2012 land transfer and before the 2023 affidavit; chronology alone does not prove a connection between them.
What was the land deal at the centre of the case?
The Indian Express’s 15 April 2025 explainer reported that Robert Vadra launched Skylight Hospitality in 2007. In 2008, the company bought about 3.5 acres in Manesar-Shikohpur, Gurgaon, from Onkareshwar Properties for ₹7.5 crore, and later agreed to sell the plot to DLF for ₹58 crore. The transfer addressed in the 2023 affidavit was reported as the sale from Skylight Hospitality to DLF Universal on 18 September 2012.
In 2012, IAS officer Ashok Khemka cancelled the mutation of the 3.531-acre plot. The 2025 explainer says his order found that the official who sanctioned the mutation lacked authority and cited consolidation proceedings. These are reported details of the dispute, not a substitute for the later legal status of the criminal investigation.
How did the case and the electoral-bond scheme develop?
| Date | Reported development |
|---|---|
| 2013 | A Haryana government panel gave Vadra and DLF a clean chit and accused Khemka of acting beyond his authority, according to The Indian Express’s 2025 explainer. This was a separate panel action, not the 2023 affidavit or the 2018 FIR. |
| 2018 | An FIR named Vadra, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, DLF and Onkareshwar Properties. It alleged offences including criminal conspiracy, cheating, fraud and forgery, and invoked provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. These were allegations, not findings of guilt. The Indian Express reported that Vadra, Hooda and the Congress denied wrongdoing. |
| 22 March 2023 | Haryana constituted a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) for further investigation, according to The Indian Express’s contemporaneous reporting. |
| April 2023 | The police affidavit reported the Tehsildar’s view on the transaction. The same contemporaneous account said the FIR remained active and the inquiry continued. |
| 15 February and 11 March 2024 | The Supreme Court declared the Electoral Bond Scheme unconstitutional on 15 February. On 11 March, it directed the State Bank of India to provide purchase and redemption data and the Election Commission of India to publish the information. The order records SBI’s statement that 22,217 bonds were purchased from 12 April 2019 to 15 February 2024, producing 44,434 datasets across the purchase and redemption records. |
| 15 April 2025 | The Indian Express reported that Vadra appeared before the Enforcement Directorate and that the ED had taken over investigation of the land deal. |
The Supreme Court’s ruling concerned the constitutionality and disclosure of electoral-bond information, not the merits of the Haryana land case. Its 11 March 2024 order said that “the non-disclosure of information regarding the funding of political parties is violative of the right to information of citizens under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.”
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The latest case-status account identified here is The Indian Express’s report dated 15 April 2025, which described an ED investigation. It does not establish the case’s status in October 2026. The April 2023 affidavit should therefore not be presented as a final resolution, and the 2025 report should not be treated as confirmation of what has happened since.
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