Controversial businessman Robert Vadra, husband of Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, has claimed in a Delhi court that he has an intestinal tumor and needs to go specifically to London for treatment.
Vadra is facing an ED & CBI probe for money laundering and other charges, and had got anticipatory bail in April on the condition that he would not travel abroad without the court’s permission.
On Wednesday, Vadra’s lawyer KTS Tulsi produced a medical certificate from Delhi’s Gangaram Hospital during the hearing in a special CBI court in the newly opened Rouse Avenue court complex where all corruption cases are now tried. Tulsi claimed that his client has been co-operating with the investigation and was not a flight risk.
The lawyer for ED contested the validity of the medical certificate which was issued on 13 May but was being submitted only now. Moreover, the fact that the certificate doesn’t just talk about the alleged ailment, but also specifically recommends further consultation in London, raising suspicion. Treatments for such cancers are available in Bharat too, the ED lawyer correctly stated.
The court has reserved its decision on Vadra’s appeal to go abroad till 3 June.
Vadra had ignored the first ED summons issued in November last year, over shady land deals in Bikaner. After Rajasthan High Court ordered him to cooperate with the agency, he finally appeared in February along with his mother Maureen Vadra and was grilled for 7.5 hours.
Vadra is also facing probes for irregular land deals in Haryana’s Gurugram district, and for his London properties purchased allegedly through kickback money routed by arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.
ED has summoned Vadra today in Delhi for questioning over his London properties and his association with Sanjay Bhandari. The agency has already filed an application before the Delhi High Court in which they have sought cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to Vadra by the lower court. The High Court will hear the matter on July 17 when Vadra and his close associate Manoj Arora will also reply to the notice issued against them by the court.
The ED maintains that they want custodial interrogation of Vadra, for which they want to arrest him.
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