Robert Vadra, the brother-in-law of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for owing property in London during the first round of questioning on Wednesday which lasted five and half hours. But Vadra denied the charge. Vadra was directed by a Delhi court to cooperate with the investigation. Vadra was asked to give in writing if he does not know of any such property in London and Sanjay Bhandari. The ED warned Vadra that any false information by him would invite legal action against him, said media reports. Following his questioning, Vadra’s lawyer Suman Jyoti Khaitan said that the former has given an undertaking that he will appear before the ED when summoned.
“All charges against him are wrong. We will cooperate with the agency 100 per cent,” Khaitan added. According to sources, Vadra again appeared before ED on Thursday for the second round of questioning. This is the first time he is appearing before any probe agency in connection with alleged criminal charges of dubious financial dealings. He was put through a dozen questions on transactions, purchase and possession of certain immovable assets in London and his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Vadra has repeatedly denied allegations of possessing illegal foreign assets and termed them a political witch hunt against him. Vadra has alleged he was being “hounded and harassed” to subserve political ends.
Vadra’s wife Priyanka Gandhi accompanied him and dropped him outside the ED’s office, in a move seen as sending a political message to Congress’ opponents ahead of Lok Sabha polls. “He is my husband, he is my family…I support my family,” Priyanka said in a show of support to Vadra. Asked if it was a political vendetta, she said everyone knows why this is being done.
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad described the questioning of Robert Vadra as the “measure of success of the Indian democracy. It is the success of the will of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, when a gentleman hailing from a well-known family had to submit before the law,” Prasad said when asked about questioning of Vadra by the ED.
The BJP alleged that he got “kickbacks” from petroleum and defence deals during the UPA dispensation. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that Vadra bought 8 to 9 properties in London from the money he got as kickbacks from a petroleum and a defence deal which took place in 2008-09 when the UPA was in power.
A local Congress leader Jagdish Sharma, questioned by the ED in this case few weeks ago, was present outside the agency’s office after Vadra went in. Talking to newsmen, Sharma alleged that Vadra was being “framed” in the case. The ED had also carried out raids in the case in December last year and grilled his aide Manoj Arora, an employee of a firm linked to Vadra, Skylight Hospitality LLP. The agency had told the court that it filed the money laundering case against Arora after his role cropped up during the probe of another case by the Income Tax Department. Arora was a key person in the case and he was aware of Vadra’s overseas undeclared assets and was instrumental in arranging funds, the ED had alleged.
