New Delhi: Robert Vadra, son-in-law of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case, will not appear owing to poor health, Vadra’s counsel said on Tuesday.
"Robert Vadra is not able to attend the hearing today for which he had been summoned by ED. He has been suffering from food poisoning since last night, as a result of which he is having acute diarrhoea and nausea," KTS Tulsi, his advocate, told ANI on Tuesday.
A Delhi court had on February 16 extended interim bail from the protection granted to Vadra and his close aide Manoj Arora till March 2 in connection with the case.
During the hearing, the ED’s counsel informed the Patiala House Court that the agency will require Vadra to appear four or five times more to carry forward the ongoing probe in the case.
The counsel also raised the issue of a large media contingent following Vadra during all his appearances and said, “He (Robert Vadra) is accompanied by a “baraat” wherever he goes, whether to ED or to court.”
Tulsi, who appeared for Vadra and Arora, had said that his clients have no problem in appearing for interrogation. “Robert Vadra has appeared on Feb 6, Feb 7, and Feb 9. My client doesn’t have a problem if they want to interrogate him for 5 days or 10 days,” Tulsi said.
He also informed the court that cumulative questioning of his client (Vadra) lasted for 23 hours 5 minutes.
A money laundering case was registered by the ED in September 2015, claiming that Skylight Hospitality had acquired land in Kolayat village of Bikaner which was meant for the rehabilitation of the poor villagers.
It was alleged that Vadra bought 69.55 hectares of land at a cheaper rate and then sold the land to Allegheny Finlease for Rs 5.15 crore through illegal transactions.
