Land case: Robert Vadra withdraws plea from Delhi HC challenging trial court order

RObert Vadra, hubby of u.s. Congress leader Priyanka indira nehru gandhi Vadra, on mon withdrew his petition from the new delhi High Court challenging a trial court order summoning him in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in a land deal in Shikohpur, Haryana.“At the outset, Mr Prateek K Chadha, counsel for the petitioner, submits that the petitioners are not interested in pursuing the said petition and seek to withdraw the same,” a bench of Justice Manoj Jain said in the order.The withdrawal came days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday opposed Vadra’s petition saying that the same was based on false legal submissions.Agency’s counsel Zoheb Hossain had countered the submissions made by Vadra’s lawyer AM Singhvi that the ED lacked jurisdiction to initiate a money laundering case against his client since the offences alleged against him under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act were not scheduled offences at the time when the offence was committed.Also Read: Delhi court grants bail to Robert Vadra in Haryana land deal caseSinghvi had argued that the land deal admittedly happened between 2008-2012, whereas the offences including sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 423 (Dishonest or fraudulent execution of deed of transfer containing false statement of consideration), 467 (Forgery of valuable security, will, etc) of the IPC and section 13 (Criminal misconduct by a public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which formed the basis for ED’s case were only included as scheduled offence in the PMLA in 2013 and 2018.To be sure, a scheduled offence is an offence listed in the Schedule attached to the PMLA and if money or property is generated from any such offence, the ED can invoke the PMLA.The allegations in the case pertain to a 3.53-acre plot of land in Shikohpur, Gurugram.The ED alleged that Vadra’s firm, Sky Light Hospitality, fraudulently purchased the land from Onkareshwar Properties on February 12, 2008. It named Vadra among the accused.The agency alleged that false declarations were made in the land acquisition and claimed that a commercial license was obtained through his personal influence. The agency’s lawyer argued before the trial court that the ₹7.5 crore shown as payment for the land was through a cheque that was never encashed. The ED claimed the land was later sold to DLF for a higher amount.The ED issued a provisional order in July last year, attaching 43 immovable properties valued at around ₹37.64 crore as part of the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).