Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate for a fresh round of interrogation on Thursday, 30 May. This is in connection with an alleged land grab deal in the National Capital Region and Rajasthan’s Bikaner, besides some benami properties overseas.
According to the report, the ED is probing Vadra for purchase of benami properties – a Rs 14 crore villa in Dubai’s Jumeirah and a flat worth over Rs 26 crore in Bryanston Square, London.
Vadra took to Twitter and Facebook to say that this is the 11th time he has appeared before probe agencies in cases against him and has been subjected to 70 hours of questioning so far.
On Monday, 27 May, the Delhi High Court had asked Vadra to file a reply on the ED plea seeking to cancel his bail in a money laundering case, news agency IANS reported on Tuesday.
Justice Chander Shekhar had issued a notice to Vadra and his close associate Manoj Arora listing the matter for 17 July.
The ED has pressed for Vadra's custodial interrogation, saying that he was not co-operating with the investigation.
He was granted anticipatory bail by a trial court on 1 April on the condition that he would not leave the country without permission and join the investigation whenever needed.
The ED, in its plea submitted in the High Court, had challenged the trial court order and said that protection to Vadra would be detrimental in carrying out a free investigation in the case.
The ED told the High Court that Vadra's questioning was required to unearth the entire source of credit used for the purchase of properties, ascertaining transactions and money laundering.
“Because it is trite to say that the anticipatory bail, to some extent, intrudes in the sphere of investigation of crime and that the courts must be cautious and circumspect in exercising such powers of discriminatory nature.”Enforcement Directorate, in its plea
"It is for the same reason that the relevant factors for grant of anticipatory bail are materially different from the grant of regular bail... The special judge has passed the impugned order by ignoring the material on record," said the plea.
The probe agency also said that Vadra's questioning would help it ascertain the role of other key accused persons involved in the commission of offence and their modus operandi.
"Ascertaining the exact source of the tainted money and the end use of such funds involved in the case," the plea read and added: "Confronting him (Vadra) with the voluminous incriminating material for bringing the investigation to a logical conclusion."
The ED noted that there were chances that Vadra may tamper with evidence and influence witnesses in the case, as he was an influential person.
(With inputs from Times of India, PTI and IANS)
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