Slamming the "politically motivated slander" against Robert Vadra, Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said his brother-in-law has been hounded by the Modi government for the last ten years.
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday filed a chargesheet against Vadra in a money-laundering case and attached Rs 37 crore worth of immovable properties linked to the businessman. The case is linked to a land deal in Haryana's Shikohpur.
"The latest chargesheet is a continuation of that witch hunt. I stand with Robert, Priyanka and their children as they face yet another onslaught of malicious, politically motivated slander and harassment," said Rahul.
Throwing his weight behind Vadra and Priyanka Gandhi's children, Rahul said, "I know that they are all brave enough to withstand any kind of persecution and they will continue to do so with dignity. The truth will eventually prevail."
This is the first time that a probe agency has filed a chargesheet against 56-year-old Vadra or attached properties — 43 of them in this instance — linked to him. He was questioned by the federal investigative agency for three consecutive days in April.
The trial court in Delhi is yet to take cognisance of the chargesheet, filed on Thursday, which names Vadra and some others as accused.
Spotlight on Skylight-DLF deal
The ED has probed into the case linked to a land deal in Haryana's Manesar-Shikohpur (now sector 83) in Gurugram. The deal was made by Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd, for which Vadra was a director in February 2008. It purchased 3.5 acre of land in Shikohpur from Onkareshwar Properties at a price of Rs 7.5 crore.
The plot was mutated in favour of Skylight the next day and the title of the land was reportedly transferred to Vadra within 24 hours.
About four years later, in September 2012, the company sold the land to realty major DLF for Rs 58 crore. At the time, Haryana was governed by the Congress party led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
The land deal was controversial when IAS officer Ashok Khemka, then posted as the director general of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector-General of Registration of Haryana, cancelled the mutation of this categorising the transaction as violative of state consolidation act and some related procedures in October 2012.
An FIR was filed in 2018 against Hooda, Vadra, DLF and Onkareshwar Properties on charges of alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, fraud and forgery under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
'Political vendetta'
Vadra has denied wrongdoing and has said the case was a "political vendetta" against him and his family that comprises former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and his wife Congress leader and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The ED is investigating Vadra in two other cases including one against UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari and a land deal in Rajasthan's Bikaner.