A Court in Delhi granted interim bail to Robert Vadra against whom the ED has levelled various allegations of holding unsecured and illegal assets abroad. The court said Vadra to appear before the court before February 16, 2019. Particularly, the case pertains to money-laundering in the purchase of property in London—located at 12, Bryanston Square, worth 1.9 million pounds—owner of which is allegedly Vadra. The petitioner called the efforts of the Enforcement Directorate as politically backed and motivated. In anticipation of his being arrested by the officials, Vadra sought anticipatory bail from the court.
During the hearing, the ED opposed the anticipatory bail and claimed that he was bribed in a petroleum deal in 2009. As per the information received by the law enforcement agency, the petitioner has various properties abroad including two houses of five and four million each, six other flats.
Senior Advocate KTS Tulsi, appearing for the petitioner informed the court that the petitioner had left for abroad for his mother’s treatment and would join the probe on his return. As usual, the petitioner stated that the allegations made by the ED were frivolous, false and malicious, and the case against him was merely a political vendetta. In view of the raid conducted at his office on December 7, 2018, the petitioner anticipated his arrest by the ED.
In addition to his other statements, he said that the respondent was a party to the unethical and illegal exercise. An authorised representative Manoj Arora of the Vadra owned company in Rajasthan has begun to provide necessary co-operation to the ED authorities by supplying relevant documents. The petitioner used the words “Hounded and Harassed” to claim that the law enforcement agency attempted to serve political ends, and he also expressed high regard for the judicial process and institution. Thus, he said he would extend his fullest cooperation in the matter concerning the political aspects and his arrest by the investigative authorities.
Arora had alleged that the case filed against him before was also a political vendetta by the NDA Government. Immediately, the ED responded with a question about whether charging a politically prominent person is always deemed as political vendetta? Further, the agency had informed the court that Arora had been providing assistance to Vadra in dealing with the illegal property transactions abroad. It also said that it lodged a money laundering case against Arora when his name flashed in the probe conducted by the IT Department under the newly enacted Black Money Act and Tax law against the absconding arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.
The London based property would be worth GBP 1.9 million, which was sold at the same price after a renovation which cost GBP 65,900. The ED alleged that this transaction implied that the actual owner of the property was Vadra who incurred the additional expenditure for renovation.
Courtesy/By: Sandeep G
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03 Feb 2019
