It appears like ‘acchhe din’ of Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi are about to end. Vadra, who enjoyed royal treatment during the UPA government, and who appeared to have gone off the radar under the Modi government as well, is now facing the heat.
The Income Tax department has started tightening the noose around Vadra related to his deals in Rajasthan, for which probe was ordered last year after BJP came back to power in the state.
On Friday, Service Tax department raided the premises of Siwal Infra Limited, a local company in Bikaner that has been project contractor for Vadra. The raids were led by Central Service Tax Commissioner Sandeep Shrivastava, and the offices and residences of the director of the firm.
In another incident, Income Tax inspector Amit Kumar from New Delhi has been reported to have scanned all records of lands purchased and sold by companies owned by Robert Vadra in Rajasthan.
Amit Kumar scanned the land transitions done by Skylight Hospitality Private Limited and Skylight Reality Private Limited – the companies that are owned by Vadra and are under scanner both in Rajasthan and in Haryana.
And these incidents of tax raids were followed up by “bad news” for Vadra from Airports. Even though the Home Ministry has not explicitly ordered it, many Airports in India are reported to have begun striking off Robert Vadra’s name as one of the dignitaries exempted from frisking at the airports.
Action against Robert Vadra has been one of the top demands by many BJP supporters, and analysts feel that now Modi government has decided to take some action.
However, analysts also believe that it will not be easy for the Modi government as Vadra is mostly the “beneficiary” and not an executor of illegal deals. It will not be easy to prove him a co-conspirator. In such a scenario, only irregularities related to taxes or accounting can nail him, rather than illegality of deals, which will nail bureaucrats and former Congress governments.
Are these raids related to taxes attempt to nail Vadra? Has his ‘bure din’ started?
