Haryana land deal: Vadra withdrawsplea, will appear before trial court

NEW DELHI: Businessman Robert Vadra Monday unconditionally withdrew his plea before the Delhi HC challenging the trial court order that had issued summons to him on a chargesheet filed by Enforcement Directorate last July.

ED had earlier countered Vadra's plea - which had argued that the agency's case is not based on a scheduled offence - saying it lacked merit and was based on a false legal submission.





Vadra, husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, had questioned the merit of ED's case related to a land deal in Shikohpur in Gurgaon on grounds that the deal was during 2008-2012, but the offences forming the basis of the ED case were only included in 2013.

ED had, however, countered these claims and said the petitioner was "misleading on a false legal submission".

Now that Vadra has withdrawn the challenge, he will have to appear before the trial court to participate in proceedings on the charges to be framed against him in the money laundering case related to the land deal his firm, Skylight Hospitality, had entered into in 2008 for Rs 7.5 crore. The land was sold to DLF for Rs 50 crore in a matter of a few months.

This is a new case being investigated against Vadra with investigation in two other money laundering cases related to land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan underway.