Court extends Vadra’s interim bail till March 2

New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) A Delhi court on Saturday extended Robert Vadra's interim bail till March 2. Vadra was present at the court for the first time in connection with a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Special Judge Arvind Kumar also extended till March 2 interim protection from arrest to Vadra's close aide Manoj Arora till March 2.

The ED told the court Vadra was not cooperating in the investigation.

Defending Vadra, counsel K.T.S. Tulsi said he has visited the ED office thrice and was grilled for 23 hours and 25 minutes.

Special Public Prosecutor D.P. Singh said the ED wanted to interrogate him further in the case.

The court asked Vadra and Arora to join investigation as and when required by the ED.

The prosecutor argued that Vadra was taking to social media and claiming to be a victim, by posting that he was being "harassed".

He said Vadra's visit to the court had attracted a lot of media attention and seemed like a wedding procession (baraat).

The case relates to ownership of undisclosed assets abroad worth 1.9 million pounds, allegedly belonging to Vadra, husband of Priyanka Gandhi, General Secretary of the Congress for Uttar Pradesh East, and brother-in-law of Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

On February 2, the court granted Vadra interim bail till February 16 and asked him to join investigation on February 6.

The ED had lodged a money laundering case against Arora after his role surfaced during an Income Tax Department probe into another case under the new Black Money Act and tax law against absconding arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.

The London property was allegedly bought by Bhandari and sold in 2010 for the same amount despite incurring additional expenses on renovation.

On December 7, as part of the investigation, the ED conducted searches at a number of premises in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru.