Vadra reaches Jaipur, to appear before ED today

Strap: Mother, co-accused in Bikaner land case, accompanies him

Yash Goyal

Our Correspondent

Jaipur, February 11

Robert Vadra, son-in-law of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, arrived here today to appear before the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday in connection with an alleged land deal in Rajasthan’s border city of Bikaner.

Vadra, who landed at the Jaipur international airport early in the day, is most likely to comply with the Rajasthan HC order to appear before the ED with his mother Maureen, a partner in Skyline Hospitality Limited, here around 10 am tomorrow.

This will be the fourth time that Vadra appears before the agency. On last three occasions he appeared before the ED in Delhi in connection with a money laundering probe against him for his alleged role in procuring assets abroad in an alleged illegal manner.

The Tuesday's appearance before the ED in Jaipur is directed by the Rajasthan HC, which asked Vadra and his mother to cooperate with the agency after they approached it seeking directions that no coercive action is taken against them by the agency.

On January 21, the Rajasthan HC has directed Vadra and his partners in Skyline Hospitality Ltd, including his mother, to appear before the ED on February 12. The single-judge Bench of Justice PS Bhati had refused to vacate the stay on the arrest and directed the government to obtain a separate order to this effect if the need for arrest arose. The ED had initiated an inquiry against the owner and partners of Skylight Hospitality Ltd in a complaint of money laundering against the company.

The ED had registered a money laundering case in 2015 on the basis of FIRs filed by the state police after the local tehsildar complained regarding the purchase of land near Mahajan Field Firing Range linked with a displaced person's land in Bikaner's Kolayat in 2006-07. The land had been purchased in the name of the driver of the mediator using a cheque allegedly given by Vadra.

The ED had issued summons to Vadra and his mother for the third time in November last year but none of them appeared before the ED. Instead they moved the HC, seeking a 'no coercive action' order and stay on the arrest.