Robert Vadra to face CBI heat as probe to begin in Bikaner land deals case

Agencies
August 31, 2017

New Delhi, Aug 31: After registering a case against RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and AAP minister Satyendra Jain, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is now going to probe the land scam involving Robert Vadra, the son-in law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The CBI registered 18 FIRs on Wednesday after the BJP-led Rajasthan government asked for a probe into alleged land scams in Bikaner.

Separate FIRs were registered under several sections of IPC regarding a series of transactions of land allotted in lieu of Mahajan Firing range in Bikaner, of which Vadra's companies also made a few purchases and later sold them at a hefty profit. The case emerged in 2014 when the state cancelled 18 mutations, that is, transfer of ownership in Bikaner, after finding them to be illegal.

The land was illegally allotted or possessed in 2006-07 by some villagers who were "wrongfully" shown as farmers displaced by Mahajan Field Firing Range of the army.

Land Scam

While those who had actually lost the land were rehabilitated in the 90s, it was alleged that several parties, including Vadra's company, had purchased large amounts of land.

The CBI investigations are likely to land a few influential people from the region, including some Congress leaders, in trouble. Vadra came into the picture at a later stage and most of the land he purchased in the name of a few companies had already exchanged hands a few times.

At one point, he was the director of more than one company whose net land holding in that area exceeded land ceiling by a small margin, but he once clarified that the excess land was surrendered.

However, he faced the allegation of buying land on being sounded by Congress governments at the center and the state about proposed setting up of solar parks - which got the rock bottom land prices to skyrocket at once. Yet, the profit he made was estimated to be only a few crores - a meager amount compared to what his land deals in Gurugram are alleged to have yielded.

CBI Investigations to Bring Trouble

Some of the lands he sold were bought by the state's Congress leaders. The state government, according to home minister Gulab Chand Kataria, found it difficult to investigate the web of transactions and alleged violations. There were also allegations that Vadra had bought a lot more than what has been reported, but these claims remain unsubstantiated. This shows that either the Vasundhara Raje government in the state was reluctant to nail Vadra or it did not find enough substance to go after him and therefore decided to send the cases to the CBI. There have been a few arrests in the past, and CBI investigations are expected to bring trouble for many more.

This is why, Vadra may be interrogated by CBI and end up facing charges of wrongdoings such as buying from those who had bought it fraudulently or exceeding land ceiling at one point.

Vadra had earlier claimed that he was innocent and was being targeted. He took to Facebook to vent his ire and wrote, "Another attempt of malicious prosecution exposed. First, Rajasthan police filed a FIR on 26 August 2014. In 3 years, they filed the chargesheets, summoned documents, as also company officials, yet found not an iota of evidence. Neither the FIR nor the chargesheets accuse the companies associated with me in any manner whatsoever."

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News Network
April 19,2020

Shimla, Apr 19: A man, who had recovered from the novel coronavirus, was again found suffering from the infection in Himachal Pradesh, officials said.

The man, a Tablighi Jamaat member, tested positive for the infection on Saturday within a week of his two reports coming out negative, they said.

Residents of different places in Mandi district, the man along with two other Jamaatis had been staying in a mosque of Nakroh village in Una'a Amb tehsil and all tested positive on April 2.

They were admitted to Tanda's Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC) in Kangra district on April 3.

As per the available information, they had tested negative for the first time on April 10 and they were declared as cured as per protocol after they tested negative for the second time on April 12.

Subsequently they had been discharged from the RPGMC and were kept in institutional quarantine.

However, with the man again testing positive, the total number of active cases in the hill state has increased to 23 out of the total 40 positive cases.

Four persons have been shifted to a private hospital outside the state. Eleven have recovered while two others have died.

A total of 16 confirmed cases were found in Una and health department statistics now shows 14 active cases and two cured.

Officials said 11 patients — three each from Chamba, Kangra, and Solan districts and two from Una district — have recovered.

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News Network
January 24,2020

Kochi/Mumbai, Jan 24: Two students who recently returned from China have been kept under medical observation at the Ernakulam Government Medical College here for possible exposure to the coronavirus, an outbreak of which in China has triggered a global health scare.

Reports from Mumbai said two persons there too have been put observation at the civic-run Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokali, PTI reported.

Health officials said no cases of the deadly infection have been detected.

One of the students being screened in Kerala and both being screen in Mumai have reported symptoms such as cold and fever and has been kept in isolation wards.

The additional district medical officer of Ernakulam, Dr S Sreedevi, said samples of the student’s body fluids would be sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for tests.

The youngster consulted a doctor at a private hospital and was referred to the Ernakulam hospital in the wake of the virus outbreak in Wuhan city of China.

A stringent screening system has been set up at the Kochi International Airport to screen passengers who have been in the affected province in China. Persons who have been to Wuhan and showing symptoms of cold, cough and fever are being immediately shifted to the Ernakulam hospital.

All quariantine facilities have been put in place there including an isolation ward and a ventilator.

The other person under observation in Kerala is an MBBS student from Kottayam district who recently returned from his college in China. The district medical office said she has no health issues. She was put under observation as a precautionary measure.

In Mumbai, 1,789 passengers have undergone thermal screening at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for the coronavirus since January 19.

Coronavirus cases were first reported from Wuhan, the capital of central Chinas Hubei province in China.

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in China, doctors at international airports have been asked to screen travellers for symptoms if they are returning from China. All private doctors have been asked to alert the authorities if they observe symptoms of the coronavirus.

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News Network
March 9,2020

New Delhi, Mar 9: A war of words broke out between the BJP and the Congress on Sunday over the Yes Bank crisis with the ruling party seeking to link it with the Gandhi family, while the opposition wondered if the prime minister and finance minister were "complicit" as the bank's loan book grew manifold.

Posting on Twitter a clip of a news channel report that Rana Kapoor, the arrested Yes Bank founder, had bought a painting from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, BJP's information and technology wing in-charge Amit Malviya alleged that every financial crime in India has "deep links" with the Gandhis.

The Congress dismissed the charge "fake" and called it a "diversionary" tactic.

It said Priyanka Gandhi had sold an M F Hussain painting of her father Rajiv Gandhi to Kapoor for Rs 2 crore, and the entire amount was disclosed in her income tax return of 2010.

Malviya tweeted, "Every financial crime in India has deep link with the Gandhis. Mallya used to send flight upgrade tickets to Sonia Gandhi. Had access to MMS (Manmohan Singh) and PC (P Chidambaram). Is absconding. Rahul inaugurated Nirav Modi’s bridal jewellery collection, he defaulted. Rana bought Priyanka Vadra’s paintings."

Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked how does an M F Hussain painting of Rajiv Gandhi sold 10 years ago by Priyanka Gandhi to Yes Bank owner Rana Kapoor and disclosed in her tax returns connect with unprecedented giving of loans of Rs 2,00,000 crore in five years of the Modi government.

"More so, when (Kapoor's) proximity to BJP leaders is well known," he said.

Rubbishing the BJP's allegation, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi at a press conference said it was a "diversionary" tactic by the government.

He noted that the bank's loan book rose from Rs 55,633 crore in March 2014, the year Narendra Modi became prime minister, to Rs 2,41,499 crore in March 2019.

"Why did the loan book rise by 100 per cent in two years after demonetisation i.e from Rs 98,210 cr in March 2016 to Rs 2,03,534 ar in March 2018? Were PM and FM sleeping, ignorant or complicit?" he asked.

The entire amount Priyanka Gandhi had received was in cheque and was fully disclosed in the income tax return, Singhvi said.

Surjewala, taking to Twitter, said instead of diverting from the real issue of people's money sinking into a bad bank, should not the government answer questions like how did loans given by Yes Bank rise from Rs 55,633 crore in March 2014 to Rs 2,41,499 crore in March 2019, an increase of almost Rs 2,00,000 crore in fiver years of the Modi government.

Why did the loans given by Yes Bank rise by a whopping 100 per cent in just two years after demonetisation, he asked.

Surjewala also questioned why did the prime minister address a conference sponsored by Yes Bank on March 6 despite the RBI moratorium.

"Why did the Haryana BJP government deposit over Rs 1,000 crore in Yes Bank a month ago, knowing that it was sinking? Is this figure Rs 3,000 cr? Did Fadnavis government in Maharashtra make similar deposits?" Surjewala asked.

"Of course, the government's media proxies won't dare to ask these questions. But the nation wants to know!" he said in a series of tweets.

Kapoor, 62, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai after charges of alleged financial irregularities and mismanagement in the bank's operations surfaced and the RBI and Union government initiated action to control its affairs.

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