Robert Vadra, the famous son-in-law of Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi has been under the cloud of controversy ever since his shady land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan came under the public scanner, thanks to exposes by people like Ashok Khemka.
When the BJP government came into power in both Rajasthan and the centre in 2014, many speculated that probes would be initiated into the matter and Vadra would be punished if he was found guilty of any wrongdoings. Action against Vadra was incidentally one of the top demands of BJP supporters.
Things started off with promise, with the Vasundara Raje government ordering a probe after coming to power. Also in 2015 the Service Tax officials raided the premises of Siwal Infra Limited, a local company in Bikaner which had been project contractor for Vadra. A tax inspector also scanned the land transitions done by Skylight Hospitality Private Limited and Skylight Reality Private Limited which were also under the scanner.
These raids led to the speculation that it was only a matter of time before Vadra was nailed by the authorities. But interestingly, to much ire of the BJP supporters, things went very cold on the Vadra front and reports also surfaced speculating as to whether the BJP was being gentle with him.
Now it seems there has been a reboot of sorts, with the Rajasthan government on Tuesday recommending a CBI probe into controversial land deals which were allegedly executed by a company owned by Vadra. The Rajasthan Police has lodged 18 FIRs in the matter which have been sent to the Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) for issuing the notification of the CBI probe, provided it is accepted.
Skylight the company in question had allegedly purchased the land in the Kolayat Teshil. The state government has already cancelled the transfer of 374.44 hectares of land in Bikaner district after it was found that land allotments were made in the name of fake persons. The Tehsildar of Kolayat has alleged in his complaint that government land in 34 villages in Bikaner which was meant to expand army’s firing range was grabbed by the land mafia through forged and fabricated documents. The mafia was allegedly helped in this matter by the government officials. The ED has also pursued the matter and conducted raids after registering a case of money laundering.
Robert Vadra has incidentally responded to the action via a Facebook post. In the post, Vadra has claimed that he is being hounded, persecuted and harassed. He reiterates that come what may, the truth will prevail in the end.
It remains to be seen if the request for the CBI probe is indeed accepted and whether the case is taken to its logical conclusion.
