New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has, for the first time, explicitly implicated Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi in its recently filed chargesheet concerning the alleged acquisition and sale of five acres of land in Haryana. The chargesheet, filed in November, includes Priyanka Gandhi's involvement in purchasing agricultural land measuring 40 kanal (five acres) in Faridabad from Delhi-based real estate agent H.L. Pahwa in 2006 and subsequently selling the same land to him in February 2010. While her husband, businessman Robert Vadra, is also named in the case, neither of them is listed as an "accused."
The investigation encompasses the purchase of three plots of land in Haryana in 2005-06 by Robert Vadra, son-in-law of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, from a real estate agent. The ED claims that this is part of a broader probe into money laundering associated with undisclosed assets abroad.
The chargesheet, also known as a prosecution complaint, was filed against UAE-based NRI businessman C.C. Thampi and Sumit Chadha, a relative of alleged middleman Sanjay Bhandari in November before a Delhi court. Thampi is allegedly linked to Robert Vadra. The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi acknowledged the chargesheet on December 22 and scheduled the next hearing for January 29, 2024.
According to the probe agency, Bhandari fled to the UK in 2016. However, the British government approved his extradition to India in January this year acting on a legal request made by the ED and the CBI.
The ED, in its chargesheet, revealed that it discovered the land transactions involving the Vadras while investigating a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case against Thampi in 2015. The agency highlighted the "long and thick relationship" between Robert Vadra and Thampi.
It said "Pahwa was receiving cash out of the books for acquisition of land. It was also noticed that Robert Vadra did not pay the entire consideration to Pahwa. The investigation in this regard is still ongoing," the ED said.
Robert Vadra, earlier questioned by the ED in this case, has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Thampi, who was arrested in January 2020, is currently out on bail.
The chargesheet also detailed Thampi's statement recorded in January 2020, indicating a close association between him and Robert Vadra. Thampi claimed to have known Vadra for more than 10 years, with the businessman being introduced to him by Madhavan, the private assistant to Sonia Gandhi.
Thampi, according to the ED, also told the agency officials that Robert Vadra "stayed at 12 Bryanston Square, London, three-four times."
Responding to the ED's move, the Congress accused the BJP of orchestrating a conspiracy ahead of the elections. Congress leader Pawan Khera remarked, "Look at what they’ll do ahead of the elections, it’s just the beginning. They are not doing it for the first time, they hatch such conspiracies when elections approach." Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, speaking on the party's 138th Foundation Day in Nagpur, mentioned that several people's names were linked with the ED before the Lok Sabha elections.
