Robert Vadra said that he made an inadvertent error and instead of “to Dubai”, he wrote “via Dubai” in his application seeking permission to travel. Vadra is currently on bail in a money laundering case filed by the ED.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) asked a Delhi court on Wednesday to forfeit a fixed deposit and file a lawsuit against businessman Robert Vadra for breaking the court’s rules about international travel. The court put off making a decision until tomorrow.
In spite of the ED saying that action should be taken against him, Vadra, the husband of Congresswoman Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, apologised wholeheartedly in front of the court. In an affidavit, Vadra admitted that he had accidentally written “through Dubai” in his request for authorization to travel rather than “to Dubai.” A money laundering case brought by the ED has Vadra out on bail at the moment.
Vadra was already in trouble with a Delhi court because he was accused of breaking the rules that had been put on him last month, even though the court had given him permission to travel to the UK via the United Arab Emirates.
Vadra was given permission by a city court on August 12 to travel for four weeks to the UK via the UAE, Spain, and Italy.
In a ruling released on Monday, special judge Neelofar Abida Parveen disagreed with Vadra’s claim that he had to stay in Dubai because of a medical emergency while he was in the UK. She said she could not believe Vadra’s claim that his health forced him to stay there.
The court gave Vadra a “show-cause” notice and asked him to explain why his Fixed Deposit Receipt (FDR), which was deposited according to the August 12 decision, shouldn’t be lost because he broke the rules of the permit he had been given.
The court added that Vadra was scheduled to stay in Dubai from August 25 to August 29 before departing for London on August 29, according to a copy of his travel tickets.
For the simple reason that the itinerary filed on August 22 and a copy of the travel tickets indicate that Vadra all along intended to stay from August 25–29 in Dubai and then travel to London on August 28, the court stated in its order: “I am unable to accept the assertion on the sole affirmation of the applicant contained in para 5 of the affidavit that the applicant was forced/compelled under the circumstances on account of medical exigencies to stay in the UAE while travelling via UAE to the UK.”
Vadra said in an affidavit he filed after he got back that he waited in the UAE before continuing his trip because he had deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his left leg and was told to rest well between long-haul flights.
Robert Vadra apologises for breaking the travel rules; the ED case will be decided tomorrow
