Airport security: Robert Vadra's name may be removed from “no-VIP-frisking” exempt list

New Delhi, September 10: Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law and businessman Robert Vadra has again hogged the media headlines over his airport security issue.

According to reports, Vadra may soon lose his VIP status of 'no frisking' at airports.

Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Monday reportedly asked the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) officials to "tone down the existing list of people exempt from the security checks at airports and prepare a list "purely on the basis of requirement" and remove names that enjoyed this privilege for "ornamental" reasons."

However, the minister categorically said that "the move has nothing to do specifically with Robert Vadra."

"It is for the home ministry to see the threat perception of individuals. But generally, by and large, Indians should go through security checks," Raju had said on May 30.

Exemption from frisking at airports is accorded to the VIPs like the President, Prime Minister, chief ministers, other ministers, Supreme Court judges and governors and to individuals with 'extremely high threat' perceptions.

The Home Ministry, which will review the list, is likely to remove Vadra's name from the privileges.

Airport security checking is mandatory for all passengers before crossing the barricades set up to provide full security to air travellers.

Since May, when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government came to power at the Centre, there are reports that Vadra's name may soon be deleted from airport VIP list.

Vadra, the husband of Priyanka Gandhi, is the only civilian in the list of those exempted from frisking at airports.

On May 31, Priyanka Gandhi had written in a letter, "his inclusion on that list came about at the instance of your predecessors in the SPG/Delhi Police and not upon any request by either of us. It was done ostensibly to facilitate the coordination of the two separate security agencies at the airport when we travelled together.

"Ever since then, it has been a source of constant embarrassment for my husband who has asked me on numerous occasions to have it removed as, in any case, he goes through the full security check and procedure from the normal channel every time he is travelling on his own,"she had said.

However in June, the government had said it has no plans to withdraw exemption given to Priyanka Gandhi and her husband Robert Vadra from normal security checks at airports when they travel together.

OneIndia News