The Indian Express : Mar 28, 2019, 05:28 PM
Reserving order on Robert Vadra’s anticipatory bail plea, a Delhi special court on Thursday extended his interim protection from arrest till April 1. This came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought his custodial interrogation in connection with a money laundering case.Vadra, husband of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, is facing allegations of money laundering in the purchase of a London-based property at 12, Bryanston Square, worth 1.9 million pounds.Arguing before Special Judge Arvind Kumar, the ED said, “A common citizen who started as a nobody now deals in huge properties.” The agency reasoned before the court that the process of hampering the case has already been initiated and a person like Vadra, who has a high place in the society, is in a capacity of hampering the investigation of the case.Seeking action on the issue, the agency asked the court if it was not entitled to get Vadra’s custody in such serious land deals “when people close to political elite make a mockery of the system”.Appearing for Vadra, senior advocate K T S Tulsi and AM Singhvi opposed the ED’s request for custodial interrogation and said that the agency had already seized documents. “What tampering is the agency anticipating,” the counsels asked the court.