Robert Vadra got 3.5 acre Gurgaon land as bribe, ED tells court

NEW DELHI: In its chargesheet filed against Robert Vadra on July 17, Enforcement Directorate has claimed that he received a 3.5-acre plot of land in Gurgaon as a bribe, contrary to his claim that he paid Rs 7.5 crore for it. The land, located in Sector 83, was later sold by Vadra to DLF for Rs 58 crore.

"Onkareshwar Properties Pvt Ltd gave this land as bribe to Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd without any payment so that Robert Vadra, director of SLHPL, could help OPPL in getting housing license in the same village from the then minister of town and country planning, Bhupinder Singh Hooda , by his personal influence because Vadra is son-in-law of the (then) Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Bhupinder Singh Hooda was also CM of Congress govt," ED has alleged in its prosecution complaint - the agency's term for a chargesheet in a money laundering case.

"Therefore, Vadra had personal influence on Bhupinder Hooda," ED stated.

A special PMLA court has issued notice to Vadra for Aug 28 to take cognisance of the complaint and, if it concurs with the findings, initiate the framing of charges. TOI sought comments from Vadra's lawyer but did not receive any response.

The chargesheet may also impact Vadra's spouse, Priyanka Gandhi, who was elected to Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Nov. The prosecution complaint has mentioned attachment of at least three high-value properties - totalling 39.7 acres in Amipur village in Faridabad - allegedly owned by Vadra but not disclosed in her poll affidavit.

The alleged non-disclosure has been challenged before the Kerala HC, which has issued a notice to her. Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, false or non-disclosure in affidavits is treated as a corrupt practice, punishable with disqualification and even imprisonment.

On July 16, ED said it had attached properties worth over Rs 37 crore allegedly linked to Vadra. The next day, it filed the chargesheet in the Gurgaon land deal case. Vadra and 10 others, including OPPL promoter-directors Satyanand Yajee and Kewal Singh Virk, have been accused of laundering "proceeds of crime" worth Rs 58 crore.

ED has examined and recorded statements of at least 20 witnesses, including Haryana govt officials and OPPL promoters, who initially claimed Vadra paid Rs 7.5 crore. ED has called this statement false.

ED asked Gurgaon police to investigate Vadra's claimed payment. A deputy commissioner of police found that Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd purchased 3.53 acres from OPPL via sale deed No. 4928 on Feb 12, 2008. Payment was shown as made via cheque no. 607251. "The said cheque has never been encashed and the buyer company paid the consideration after six months through another cheque," the DCP said. "Thus, the buyer company made a false statement of consideration while executing the sale deed."

ED's chargesheet said the sale deed was based on a false statement and the sale was benami. The cheque used was issued by Skylight Realty Pvt Ltd, not the buyer company SLHPL, which had capital of only Rs 1 lakh. SLRPL too did not have Rs 7.5 crore in its bank account.

ED further claimed that the Rs 45 lakh stamp duty was paid by seller, not by SLHPL.