Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi wrote on X on Friday, ‘The government has been harassing my brother -in -law (Robert Vadra) for the last ten years. This charge sheet is part of the same conspiracy. ‘
He wrote, ‘I am with Robert, Priyanka and her children, as they have to face politically inspired slander and harassment. I know they are brave and they will continue to face it with full dignity. Finally the truth will win.
Rahul’s statement came at a time when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday presented a charge sheet against Robert in the money laundering case related to the Gurugram Land Deal case. This is the first time that an investigating agency has filed a charge sheet against Vadra in a criminal case.
Apart from Vadra, this charge sheet also includes the names of companies along with many other people. ED also attached assets worth Rs 37.64 crore on 16 July. The Congress on Thursday described it as an ‘attempt to intimidate’.
Land deal in 2008
In February 2008, Robert Vadra’s company Skylite Hospitality bought 3.5 acres of land from Omkareshwar Properties in Shikohpur village of Gurugram for Rs 7.5 crore.
At present, there was a Congress government in Haryana and Bhupendra Singh Hooda was the Chief Minister. About a month after purchasing the land, the Hooda government gave permission to Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality to develop a residential project on 2.7 acres of land. After getting the license for the residential project, the prices of land increase.
About 2 months later, in June 2008, Skylight sold this land to DLF for 58 crores. Vadra’s company has a profit of more than 700 percent in about 4 months. In 2012, the license to build the Hooda Sarkar Colony was transferred to DLF.
IAS officer canceled mutation
In 2012, Ashok Khemka, the then director of land registration of the Haryana government, canceled the land mutation (ownership transfer) citing irregularities in the deal.
Khemka claimed that the rules were violated in the process of license to Skylight. After this Khemka was transferred. This further increased the dispute in the case.
