Delhi court grants bail to Robert Vadra in land deal case
A Delhi court granted bail to businessman Robert Vadra in a money laundering case linked to a Haryana land deal, noting the Enforcement Directorate never arrested him during investigation. The court said unnecessary detention would violate personal liberty protections under Article 21
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to businessman Robert Vadra in a money laundering case linked to a land deal in Haryana’s Shikohpur, observing that the ED had not arrested him during the investigation and his detention was not necessary.
Earlier on April 15, the court took cognisance of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) chargesheet against Vadra, the husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kewal Singh Virk and others, and summoned them on May 16.
“The Supreme Court has underscored the principle that once the accused had cooperated with the investigation and submitted to the process of the court, the law does not favour unnecessary curtailment of liberty, and the appearance before the court cannot be equated with automatic custody,” Special Judge Sushant Changotra said.
The court granted them bail on furnishing a bail bond and surety bond of Rs 50,000 each, subject to the condition that they will appear regularly in the court during the trial. The judge said that the counsel for Vadra and Virk sought the release of their clients on furnishing of bonds.
“As both accused, i.e, accused no 1 (Vadra) and 3 (Virk), were not arrested during the course of investigation and they have now appeared in the court in pursuance of the summons, their detention in judicial custody is neither necessary nor warranted under the law.” He said the settled position of law is that mere appearance before the court pursuant to summons does not, by itself, justify remand to custody, particularly when the investigating agency itself found no occasion to arrest them during the investigation.
The judge also appreciated the investigating officer for exercising his discretion responsibly in this case by choosing not to arrest the accused, thereby preserving their personal liberty while completing the investigation.
He said, “This non-arrest of both the accused was therefore a deliberate and considered determination that the accused could be fairly dealt with through the ordinary trial process without arresting them at the investigative stage.” “The discretionary choice to preserve the liberty of the accused is precisely what Article 21 of the Constitution expects that investigating authorities ought to act as a first line of restraint, ensuring that no one is detained and that the procedure established by law remains meaningful,” the judge added.
The ED filed the chargesheet against Vadra and 10 others last July. It was the first time that any probe agency filed a chargesheet against 57-year-old Vadra in a criminal case. In April 2025, the ED had questioned Vadra for three consecutive days. The probe against Vadra is linked to a land deal at Manesar-Shikohpur (now Sector 83) in Haryana’s Gurugram district.
The deal was done in February 2008 by a company named Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd, where Vadra was a director earlier, under which it purchased a 3.5-acre land in Shikohpur from Onkareshwar Properties for Rs 7.5 crore. At the time, Haryana was ruled by the Congress. Four years later, in September 2012, the company sold the land to realty major DLF for Rs 58 crore.
The deal got embroiled in controversy in October 2012 after IAS officer Ashok Khemka, then posted as director general of land consolidation and land records-cum-inspector-general of registration, cancelled the mutation after categorising the transaction as violative of the state consolidation act and some related procedures.
Vadra has been denying any wrongdoing, calling the case a “political vendetta” against him and his family, including former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.
