A court in New Delhi has granted bail to businessman Robert Vadra in a money laundering case related to a 2008 land deal in Gurugram’s Shikohpur village. Vadra secured bail by furnishing a bond of Rs 50,000 along with one surety of the same amount. The case has been scheduled for further hearing on July 10.
Vadra appeared before the Rouse Avenue Court following the summons issued to him after the court acknowledged the Enforcement Directorate’s prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The allegations pertain to irregularities in a land transaction involving 3.53 acres of land in Haryana’s Shikohpur village.
The Enforcement Directorate has accused Vadra, the husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and son-in-law of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, of illicitly generating funds through the land deal. It is claimed that Vadra’s company, Skylight Hospitality Private Limited, acquired the land in 2008 without actual payment, with the sale deed allegedly containing false information.
The ED further alleges that the land was undervalued, resulting in stamp duty evasion, and that the illicit funds were channeled through various entities supposedly controlled by Vadra. The agency has identified Rs 58 crore as proceeds of crime and has provisionally attached 43 properties worth Rs 38.69 crore linked to Vadra and his associated entities.
Earlier, Vadra and eight others were summoned by the Rouse Avenue Court in compliance with the ED’s complaint. Vadra’s plea challenging the trial court’s decision was not immediately successful in the Delhi High Court. The matter was adjourned for further hearing on May 18 after arguments from both sides.
