Rajasthan HC adjourns ED plea seeking Robert Vadra's custodial interrogation in land case

The Rajasthan High Court has adjourned the hearing of a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking permission to interrogate Robert Vadra and other accused in the land scam or Benami properties case. 

The case was listed for hearing by Justice Vijay Vishnoi on March 15, but the same has been deferred to April 5. The petition filed by the ED mentions the names of Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and his aide Mahesh Nagar. The ED had moved the Rajasthan HC in January seeking permission to question Vadra in custody regarding his Benami properties. He was previously questioned by the I-T Department in connection with the same case.

Vadra had also been questioned by various agencies in 2019 in relation to a string of different cases over his alleged links in arms deals as well as in property deals, both in India and abroad. 

ED chargesheets Vadra

Back in October 2020, a Rouse Avenue court took cognisance of a chargesheet filed by the ED against fugitive economic offender Sanjay Bhandari. The agency had filed a prosecution complaint (i.e. charge sheet) under sections 44 and 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) against Bhandari and his co-conspirators. As per reports, Robert Vadra has been named in the chargesheet. The court has also asked ED to expedite Bhandari's extradition process from the UK.