BJP hails 'rule of law' even as Congress dubs Justice Dhingra's report 'campaign of slander'

New Delhi: Robert Vadra was again in the eye of a storm with Justice Dhingra Commission coming out with a report on his controversial land deals which Congress dubbed as a “campaign of slander and vilification” while BJP hailed it insisting that the “rule of law is being upheld”. [caption id=“attachment_2985514” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Robert Vadra. PTI[/caption] Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala sought to take the sting out of the Commission report, contending that since it had not summoned either Vadra or former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda under relevant sections of the Commission of Inquiry Act, adverse comments cannot be made against them and they cannot be condemned without being heard. “No one can be condemned unheard is a basic doctrine of natural justice. The Commission of Inquiry Act contains this fundamental principle. The Act says no adverse finding can be given against any person without giving an opportunity of being heard,” he told reporters. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, however, said the Modi government believed in “upholding the law” and takes a dim view of any violation even as it rejected the Congress’ charge that it was running a campaign of “slander and vilification” against its chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law. “Commission on Inquiry is a legal process. It is not proper to comment without knowing its contents. I will say only one thing that BJP government treats the violation of law as a violation and it is our job to uphold the law. “Nobody is allowed (to do so) and we don’t do anything out of political malice. It is a fair government. It is Congress’ monopoly to work out of political malice. It is not a BJP’s work. We work on merit,” he told reporters. Hooda termed the report as a “political vendetta and witch hunt” by the BJP government, while Vadra’s counsel said his client is innocent and natural justice was violated as neither he nor his representatives were ever summoned by the panel. Vadra’s lawyer Suman Khaitan said holding anything against him or his company without giving them a chance to be heard went against the principles of natural justice. “If the government feels that my client is a bad man and they have a “jamai babu” report, why are they hiding the report. Let the report come out,” he told reporters, daring the government to make it public. BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli also said that the terms of reference were about entitles and not individuals and wondered why Vadra is not speaking and the entire Congress party coming to his defence even before the report is made public. “Are they worried that something objectionable would come out?,” he asked. “Congress party’s response is confused and they are trying to give legal jargon to hide behind a political problem and fraud,” Kohli said. BJP’s national secretary Shrikant Sharma said Congress is afraid because it believes that it has been caught out and so it is “politicising” this case of corruption.