A special CBI court has granted anticipatory bail to businessman Robert Vadra in a money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Robert Vadra is married to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s sister Priyanka Gandhi.

The court also granted anticipatory bail to Vadra’s close aide Manoj Arora. Both Vadra and Arora have to furnish personal bail bonds of Rs 5 lakh each. The bail order was passed by Special Judge Arvind Kumar.

Granting the anticipatory bail to Robert Vadra, the court laid down restrictions on his travel abroad and said that he would have to seek permission from the court before embarking on any foreign tours.

Passing the bail order, the court directed both Vadra and Arora to join the investigation whenever they are summoned and said that they should not try to tamper evidence or influence witnesses.

Both Robert Vadra and Manoj Arora were on interim bail till now.

The Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations of money laundering against Robert Vadra in the purchase of a London-based property with 1.9 million pounds. The agency claims that the property’s ownership belongs to Vadra.

The Congress had earlier termed the investigation against Vadra as a political vendetta by the ruling NDA government.

Speaking to the media after the bail was granted, senior lawyer KTS Tulsi, who is representing Vadra said, “This is a case where 21,000 documents were illegally taken from his office. When they found nothing, they sought custodial interrogation only to harass a citizen because of his family relations.”

First Published: Apr 01, 2019 16:27 IST