New Delhi, A Delhi court on Saturday reserved its order on the question of taking cognisance of a prosecution complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against businessman Robert Vadra and others in a money laundering case linked to a 2008 land deal in Gurugram’s Shikohpur village.
The Special Court at the Rouse Avenue Court reserved the order after hearing submissions on the question of cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the federal anti-money laundering agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The court said it would pronounce its decision on April 15.
The ED has accused Vadra — husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and son-in-law of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi — of generating proceeds of crime through a fraudulent land transaction involving 3.53 acres of land in Haryana.
The probe agency has further claimed that the proceeds were routed through multiple companies purportedly controlled by him.
Earlier, the court had issued notice to Vadra and other proposed accused persons, in compliance with Section 223(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which mandates that an accused must be given an opportunity of being heard before cognisance is taken.
“Issue notice to all the proposed accused persons arrayed in the complaint for hearing on the question of taking of cognisance,” said the order passed by Special Judge (PC Act) Sushant Changotra.
According to the ED, Vadra’s company, Skylight Hospitality Private Limited, despite having limited capital, acquired 3.5 acres of land in Shikohpur in February 2008 for Rs 7.50 crore from Omkareshwar Properties Private Limited.
The probe agency has alleged that no actual payment was made and that the sale deed contained false declarations, including a reference to a cheque that was never issued or encashed.
The ED has claimed that the land was undervalued in the sale deed, leading to evasion of stamp duty and constituting an offence under Section 423 of the Indian Penal Code.
In its complaint, the ED has identified Rs 58 crore as proceeds of crime and has provisionally attached 43 immovable properties worth Rs 38.69 crore, described as direct or value equivalent to the proceeds of crime.
These properties are allegedly owned by Vadra, his proprietary concern Artex, Skylight Hospitality Private Limited and other associated entities.
The probe agency has sought a maximum punishment of seven years’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 4 of the PMLA, along with confiscation of the attached properties. In October 2012, senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka had cancelled the Shikohpur land deal, citing procedural irregularities.
Though an in-house government panel later gave a clean chit to Vadra and DLF, an FIR was subsequently registered by the Haryana Police after the BJP-led government came to power in the state.
