india

Updated: Feb 02, 2019 22:54 IST

A Delhi court on Saturday granted Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, protection from arrest till February 16 in a money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and directed him to appear before the agency on February 6 and cooperate with investigations.

Vadra, who is currently in London, moved the court Friday for anticipatory bail in the case connected with the purchase of a London-based property worth 1.9 million pounds. The ED claims the property belongs to Vadra.

Special judge Arvind Kumar directed Vadra to furnish a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of the same amount after his counsel, senior advocate KTS Tulsi, informed the court that his client was in London looking after his ailing mother. Tulsi, however, assured the court that Vadra would return to India on February 6. The court then granted Vadra interim bail with a direction to join investigations.

In his plea, Vadra alleged that he was subjected to unwarranted, unjustified and a malicious criminal prosecution which, on the face of it, was completely politically motivated. The case will be heard next on February 16.