Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband, businessman Robert Vadra, on Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court challenging the summons issued to him in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in a land deal in Haryana’s Shikohpur.
The petition in which Vadra challenged the court’s April 15 order was listed before a bench of Justice Manoj Jain on Thursday.
In his petition filed by advocate Pratik Krishan Chadha, Robert Vadra maintained that there was no irregularities and the deal was purely commercial in nature.
Vadra, his plea was perverse.
The summons were issued after the court of Special Judge Sushant Changotra (Ross Street) took cognizance of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) chargesheet filed in the case in July last year. The court asked the accused to appear before it on May 16.
Read also:ED files chargesheet against Robert Vadra in Gurugram land deal case
The allegations in the case relate to a 3.53-acre plot of land at Shikohpur in Gurugram. The executive alleged that Robert Vadra’s company, Sky Light Hospitality, fraudulently purchased the land from Onkareshwar Properties on February 12, 2008. It listed Robert Vadra’s name among the accused.
The agency alleged that false advertisements were made in the land acquisition process and claimed that a business license was obtained through his personal influence.
The agency’s attorney argued before the lower court that $It was shown that the Rs 7.5 crore payment for the land was made through a check that was never encashed. The land was later sold to DLF for a higher amount, the ED claimed.
The ED had issued an interim order in July last year annexing 43 immovable properties worth around Rs. 37.64 crore as part of the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
