Hounded by this govt for last 10 yrs: Rahul Gandhi on ED chargesheet against Vadra

Gandhi also asserted that the truth shall eventually prevail and that his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her family will withstand any kind of persecution

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government for the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) chargesheet naming Robert Vadra, husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, as an accused in a money laundering case.

On July 17, the ED filed a charge sheet against Vadra, in connection with its money laundering probe. (ANI photo)

Terming it “malicious, politically motivated slander and harassment”, Gandhi said that his brother-in-law has been hounded by this government for the last ten years.

“My brother-in-law has been hounded by this government for the last ten years. This latest chargesheet is a continuation of that witch-hunt. I stand with Robert, Priyanka and their children as they face yet another onslaught of malicious, politically motivated slander and harassment. I know they are all brave enough to withstand any kind of persecution, and they will continue to do so with dignity. The truth will eventually prevail,” Gandhi wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

On Thursday, the ED filed a charge sheet against Vadra, in connection with its money laundering probe in a 3.53-acre land deal in Gurugram’s Shikohpur in 2008. He has been charged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

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.

Vadra had been questioned by the ED for three consecutive days in April. According to investigators, two of Vadra’s firms, with only ₹1 lakh each in their bank accounts, purchased 3.53 acres of land in Shikohpur worth ₹.5 crore in February 2008. The probe reportedly found that Vadra’s company applied for commercial development of the land, receiving approval from the Haryana government within four days. In September 2012, the land was sold to real estate major DLF for approximately ₹58 crore.

Reacting to the chargesheet, Vadra’s office dismissed the action as “an extension of the political witch-hunt” by the BJP-led government, asserting that Vadra would defend himself in court.