A Delhi court on Saturday discharged a show-cause notice issued to Robert Vadra for allegedly violating terms and conditions while travelling to the UK via Dubai but warned him to remain careful in future. Earlier, on September 20, refusing to accept his assertion that he was “forced or compelled to stay in Dubai on account of medical exigencies while travelling via UAE to the UK”, the court issued the show-cause notice asking why his fixed deposit receipt (FDR) of Rs 25 lakh should not be forfeited.
“… From the contents of the affidavit, I am satisfied that the omission is not intentional, the explanation is not an afterthought, and conduct of the applicant does not lack bona fides and good faith,” special judge Neelofar Abida Parveen said.
Discharging the show-cause notice, the judge further said that Vadra had “tendered an unqualified and unconditional apology for the lapse which was accepted”, and “the applicant is warned to remain careful in future”.
The court then took on record Vadra’s compliance report, saying he had “shown sufficient cause and satisfactory explanation for the four days stop over at UAE”.
As he had returned to the country in terms of the permission granted, the court ordered the deposited FDR to be released. The court noted that Vadra had produced medical records regarding his condition due to which he was advised not to undertake long journeys or to opt for breaks and a medical certificate issued in Dubai for his medical assistance was on record.
It said that Vadra, on previous occasions, had travelled to Dubai and via Dubai as a stopover for a break in his onward journey. “The submission, therefore, is not misplaced and the explanation not too far fetched that the applicant was under a bona fade impression that the four days stay at Dubai is not in contravention of the permission…,” the court said.
The court, in its order dated August 12, granted permission to Vadra to travel to the UK via UAE, Spain and Italy for four weeks. After his return, he filed an application for submitting the necessary documents and for release of the FDR.
On perusal of the documents, the court found that Vadra reached UAE on August 25 and then took a flight for London on August 29, while there was no permission from the court to travel to UAE for any period of time. Subsequently, Vadra filed an affidavit stating he stayed in UAE because he had Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) in his left leg and he had been advised to take proper rest between long-haul flights.
During the trip as there was inflammation and pain in his left leg, he had to stop and seek medical advice in Dubai on August 27, the affidavit said. At present, Vadra, husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, is on bail in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate.
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