DLF posts biggest one-day fall in over 7 months on Robert Vadra controversy

Shares in DLF, India's biggest real estate developer, plunged on Monday after anti-corruption activists accused the company of improper dealings with Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Both Mr Vadra and DLF have denied the allegations.

The stock closed 7.3 per cent lower at Rs 224.30 on the NSE and was the top loser on the 50-share Nifty. This is the biggest one-day fall in DLF shares since February 22, 2012. DLF shares also underperformed the broader BSE realty index, which declined 3.5 per cent.

Anti-corruption activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan said on Friday that DLF had allegedly gifted Mr Vadra a 65-crore interest-free loan and sweetheart deals on a series of apartments in Gurgaon. DLF has denied all the charges, explaining that Mr Vadra was not offered unsecured loans or apartments at cheaper rates than other customers.

The company says that in fact, it gave Mr Vadra's firm, Skylight Hospitality Private Limited, two advances of 50 crore and 15 crore for two plots of land near Delhi. The first deal went through. The second didn't and DLF says Mr Vadra returned the 15-crore advance.

The activists had also said that Mr Vadra was given a flat in the Aralias project in Gurgaon for Rs. 89 lakh. DLF says that he paid Rs. 11.90 crore for the apartment.

It also said that the activists had incorrectly accused it of giving seven apartments in its Magnolias project, also in Gurgaon, for Rs. 5.2 crore to Skylight. It claimed he has paid market rates. "As part of its real estate business, Skylight group had invested in Magnolias apartments at a price of Rs. 10,000 per square feet in March 2008, which was the prevalent offer price of the company for all its customers," the statement said.

DLF stated that Mr Vadra was never shown preferential treatment as a customer via special under-valued rates. It said that to the contrary, because Mr Vadra decided to buy some apartments at an advanced stage of construction, he paid more than other buyers who came on board sooner.

Mr Vadra told NDTV that the charges of corruption levelled against him by the activists are an attempt to "malign my family in order to gain cheap publicity for themselves and for the launch of their political party."
 
Mr Vadra also hinted that he may take legal action - he said the allegations made against him are "utterly false, entirely baseless and defamatory."