On Wednesday, September 21, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra issued an unconditional apology for allegedly violating the restrictions and constraints imposed by a Delhi court for travelling to the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain.
Special Judge Neelofar Abida Parveen of Rouse Avenue Court reserved the decision on the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea to forfeit the fixed deposit and commence legal proceedings against Robert Vadra for breaking the court’s terms and conditions for travelling overseas until Thursday.
The ED stated action should be taken against Vadra despite his unreserved apology. In an affidavit, he stated that he mistakenly made an error and put “via Dubai” instead of “to Dubai” in the application for authorization to travel. Vadra, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s spouse, is currently on bail in connection with a money laundering investigation. Robert Vadra was represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
“I have no doubt committed an error,” said senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was representing Robert Vadra. “You should have requested permission,” the court stated.
“There has been an error,” remarked Abhishekh Manu Singhvi, “I plainly had no intention of misleading anyone. There was no plan to say X to the judge and then perform Y.”
“I unconditionally apologise for the mistake of putting via UAE”, he added, “Please accept my apologies for the error.”
ED’s counsel objected to this contention. Advocate N K Matta, special public prosecutor (SPP) for the ED, stated that Robert Vadra was asked to give his address to the court before leaving India and that he did not submit details of places he visited in the UK even after returning to India.
“On August 22, 23, and 24, ED did not object to the changed schedule (which included a four-day stay in Dubai),” Singhvi claimed.
On Monday, the Court expressed its dissatisfaction with Robert Vadra’s clarification that he stayed in Dubai for a medical emergency in August this year while travelling to the United Kingdom via UAE, claiming that this was a violation of the terms and conditions of the permission granted to him.
The court also issued a show cause notice, asking Robert Vadra why his fixed deposit receipt should not be forfeited for breaking the terms and conditions of the permission granted to him by the court.
On August 12, the court gave Robert Vadra permission to travel to the United Kingdom through the United Arab Emirates, Spain, and Italy for four weeks. The court noted that the flight and hotel information included in Robert Vadra’s undertaking plainly showed that he would travel to the UK via the UAE, as approved by this court.
In his affidavit, Vadra stated that he stayed in the UAE before continuing his journey because he had deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his left leg and had been instructed to take sufficient rest between long-haul flights.
During the trip, he had to stop and seek medical assistance in Dubai on August 27 at the LGA medical facilitation centre for medical emergencies of travellers in Dubai, where he was advised further medical treatment in this regard, according to Vadra’s lawyer.
Robert Vadra is currently on bail in connection with a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
