Whether his family is in power or out of it, Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra has always been courted by controversies and legal cases; all the while in and out of news pieces just as he is in and out of offices of legal enforcement agencies.
Of the several highly controversial cases surrounding Vadra, the one involving land deal between Vadra's Skylight Hospital and real estate giant DLF was recently given a clean chit. The BJP-JJP government of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that, "No regulations/rules have been found violated" in the transfer of land by Robert Vadra's M/s Skylight Hospitality to the DLF Universal Limited."
The deal, the charges and clean chit
The development came 11 years after the allegations of shady land deal rocked the Haryana Assembly and created a political furore ahead of elections in 2014. It all started with IAS officer Ashok Khemka's cancellation of the mutation of land deal.
Khemka was then Director General, Consolidation of Land Holdings and Land Records-cum-Inspector of Registration and he cancelled the mutation of 3.5 acre plot that Vadra had sold to DLF for Rs 58 crore. In 2018, FIR registered against Hooda, Vadra and DLF mentioned charges of conspiracy, cheating, fraud, and forgery. Hooda, Vadra and those involved denied any wrong doing and called the cases a witch-hunt driven by BJP.
However, Vadra's woes are far from over as several cases are still pursued by the Enforcement Directorate, some even across time zones.
United Kingdom assets case
In the last quarter of 2018, Enforcement Directorate slapped a case of money laundering against Vadra. The case involving the purchase of a property worth 1.9 million pounds located at 12, Bryanston Square, London also mentioned several other properties allegedly owned by Vadra; two properties worth then 4 million pounds and 5 million pounds each and a total of 6 flats suspected to be owned by him.
Bikaner land deal case
In September 2015, ED registered yet another case against Vadra alleging that Skylight Hospitality had acquired land in Bikaner's Kolayat, which was originally meant for rehabilitation of poor rural population.
Vadra had, allegedly, bought 69.55 hectares of land at a cheaper rate and sold to Allegenery Finlease for ₹ 5.15 crore through legally invalid transactions. As per ED, the purchasing company was a fake one as it had no real business and had fake shareholders.
Petroleum deal of 2009
In yet another deal targeted by ED, it claims that Robert Vadra and his associates received kickbacks in a petroleum deal signed in 2009 when the Congress-led UPA was in power. The BJP alleged that Vadra benefitted immensely from the deal and used the money to purchase properties in the UK.
