Vadra put pressure on Rahul, Sonia to rescind I-T order to benefit him: BJP

The BJP Friday alleged that Robert Vadra had put pressure on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for revocation of an Income Tax department order penalising a company that gave a loan to another entity to buy his land in Rajasthan.

Dubbing Vadra a "tained son-in-law", BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed that in 2010, Vadra's Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd had bought 70 hectares of land for nearly Rs 70 lakh and sold it to another entity, Allegeny Finlease Pvt Ltd, in 2012 for Rs 5.15 crore, "seven times the original cost".

Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BSPL) gave an unsecured loan of Rs 5.64 crore to Allegeny Finlease for buying the same land, he claimed.

During the same time, BSPL had got a tax notice that cited anomalies in its returns from 2004-2005 to 2011-12, and was asked to pay Rs 500 crore for the difference, Patra claimed.

"BSPL wrote to the Settlement Commission of the IT (Income Tax) department appealing against the order, which said the company has to pay Rs 500 crore. The commission also granted no immunity to BSPL against prosecution and penalty," the BJP spokesperson told reporters here.

The Settlement Commission reconstituted a bench that rescinded the earlier order and had asked the company to pay Rs 500 crore, he claimed.

"As Bhushan Steel had given money for buying a plot of land from Robert Vadra, he put pressure on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to ask the Income Tax department to waive the penalty and save BSPL from punishment. It is a clear case of corruption," Patra said.

"This is case of quid pro quo between Skylight Hospitality, Allegeny Finlease and Bhushan Steel," Patra said, alleging that unaccounted money has been by misusing the powers.

Patra also targeted former prime minister Manmohan Singh and dubbed him a "puppet PM" for overlooking the "corruption" during his time.

He also asked, "How much did the Gandhis benefit (from this deal)?"