ED files charge sheet against Robert Vadra in Gurugram land deal case

The chargesheet also includes the names of several other individuals and firm names.

Updated on: Jul 17, 2025, 16:01:21 IST

By Neeraj Chauhan

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, businessman Robert Vadra, in connection with its money laundering probe in a 3.53-acre land deal in Gurugram’s Shikohpur in 2008, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. He has been charged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, they added.

File photo of Businessman Robert Vadra. (PTI)

This is ED's first charge sheet against Vadra, who was questioned for three days in this case in April.

Vadra’s two firms allegedly had only ₹1 lakh each in their bank accounts when they purchased the land worth ₹7.5 crore in Shikohpur.

The people cited above referred to the probe in the case and said that it showed Vadra’s firm applied for developing the land for commercial activity, and the Haryana government approved a licence within four days.

Also Read: ED questions Robert Vadra in money laundering probe

An officer cited the alleged irregularities and said Vadra's Sky Light Hospitality Private Ltd (SLHPL) purchased the land without making any payment. He referred to the probe and said SLHPL did not issue the cheque for the purchase. The officer said another Vadra company, Sky Light Realty Pvt Ltd (SLRPL), issued the cheque. "...this cheque was never presented to the bank for encashment," he said.

A second officer said both SLHPL and SLRPL had a balance of only ₹1 lakh each in their bank accounts at the time of execution of this sale deed. "So, both these entities of Vadra did not have sufficient balance to make the payment to the seller for the 3.53-acre land worth ₹7.50 crore."

The second officer said Omkareshwar Properties Pvt Ltd (OPPL) provided the funds for stamp duty ( ₹45 lakh) and other charges.

A third officer said that SLHPL paid ₹15.38 crore in two tranches to OPPL, more than the amount mentioned in the sale deed ( ₹7.50 crore), after about six months. This means an “undervaluation of property was done, which led to suppression of stamp duty and revenue loss to the government”, he said.

The ED found OPPL applied for a commercial licence for this land, but the Haryana government’s town and country planning department did not issue it. On March 17, 2008, SLHPL informed the department about the land purchase and applied for a licence to develop a commercial colony.

“Within four days, on March 21, 2008, the chief minister of Haryana [Bhupinder Hooda] gave the approval...a letter of intent was issued by the department on March 28 for developing a commercial colony on 2.701 acres out of the 3.53 acres. The Haryana government did not even examine whether SLHPL had the financial capacity to develop commercial space. It appears that this licence was approved considering the status of Vadra,” said the third ED officer.

HT has reached out to Vadra, who is also facing the ED probe in a money laundering case against arms middleman Sanjay Bhandari and a land deal in Rajasthan’s Bikaner, for a comment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Chauhan
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.Read More

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