No clean chit to Vadra in Bikaner land case: Rajasthan Home Minister

Jaipur, Jan 27: Rejecting a media report, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria today underlined that Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra has not been given any clean chit in the Bikaner "land grab" case and that the investigation is still underway.

"18 people were arrested in the case and challan was filed in August last year. All of the persons arrested were the first party who purchased the land with fake names.

Robert Vadra's company is third or fourth party to purchase the land. We have just arrested people who were the first party to purchase the lands illegally," Kataria told PTI.

"I have spoken to the investigating officer and senior officers of the police in Bikaner. The investigation was about the first party. I have no idea that what is going on the investigation pertaining to second, third or fourth parties and anything could be said only after the investigation completes," he said.

Earlier, he told local reporters in Udaipur that "it was nothing like a clean chit to vadra. No such action (clean chit) has been taken place."

He said, those who purchased the land illegally for the first time were arrested. The investigation it the case is still on, what will be the outcome of the investigation cannot."

A local newspaper, quoting the investigating of the case, had said yesterday that Vadra was a "victim of conspiracy".

The minister said that the report was false. Cases were registered by Bikaner police in the alleged land grab case. The state government had on December 31, 2014 cancelled 18 mutations (transfer of ownership) found to be illegal in private persons’ name.

According to Bikaner administration sources, the 374.44 hectares of land was illegally allotted or possessed in 2006-7 by some villagers, who were “wrongfully” shown as farmers displaced by Mahajan Field Firing Range of the Army.

It was alleged that Vadra’s company also purchased chunks of land. The farmers who were actually displaced were allotted land between 1992 and 1996, the sources said.

PTI