It is obvious that without political influence, Vadra would not have been able to get a land which might breach national security and provides windfall profits.
“Kanoon ke haath lambe hote hain” – this Bollywood dialogue was proved right when the said hands reached to the house of Gandhis and dragged them to the court.
Interestingly, they will have to defend themselves in a land grab case – one that another member of the powerful family has been accused of having lust for.
Yes, we are talking about Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi.
Two months ago, the Bhartoya Janata Party had released an eight minute video and a six-page booklet titled “Damaad Shree” on Vadra listing all his alleged land deals in Rajasthan and Haryana. The party had termed it a ‘Robert Vadra Model of Development’.
Alleging that the ‘model’ became successful due to the patronage provided by the Gandhi family to Robert Vadra, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad had then said, “There was gross violation of laws relating to land and environment. The influence of the family helped make Vadra big earnings in the deals.”
Subramanian Swamy, who had filed the case against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in National Herald land grab case and has successfully provided enough evidence to get them summoned in court has vowed to expose Vadra too.
In April this year, he wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking a CBI investigation into the declassification of Keventer Dairy Ltd. land near Rashtrapati Bhavan for building apartments, allegedly benefiting the real estate company DLF. He has appended documents which show that in at least one company (Greenwave Agro Private Ltd.) owned by Vadra, DLF executive Amit Mehta was the director.
It is obvious that without political influence, Vadra would not have been able to get a land which might breach national security and provides windfall profits. The issue had come up after an allegation that DLF was keen to add four more storeys to the permitted four.
Swamy, in an earlier letter to President, had alleged that the 22-acre site was sold off to DLF by Keventers for much less than the market rate. “The land was made available by the holders Keventers Company to a private company owned by DLF at a price of Rs. 65 crore after prolonged litigation. However, the value of the land in 2012 when the permission was granted for the conversion should be worth more than Rs. 10,000 crore,” he had written in his letter.
While the Delhi Police in 2012 had filed a report stating that construction of eight floors had the potential to pose a security threat, the Intelligence Bureau and the President’s security had said the building could not be allowed to come up as it would lead to “‘visual intrusion” into the Rashtrapati Bhavan complex.
Vadra roams scot-free after the claimants in the DLF case were unable to prove him guilty. But, after the mother-in-law and her prodigal son have been summoned, it’s almost time that the son-in-law is charged too.
