On October 26, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued a summons to Vaibhav Gehlot, the son of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, in connection with a foreign exchange violation case. Mr. Vaibhav Gehlot has been asked to appear before the ED’s headquarters in New Delhi on October 27. However, he is expected to request a rescheduled appearance date as he needs time to gather documents dating from 2011 until the present to provide to the ED investigators.
This summons is related to recent ED raids conducted against the Rajasthan-based hospitality group Triton Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd., Vardha Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., and their directors and promoters, including Shiv Shankar Sharma and Rattan Kant Sharma. In August, the ED had carried out searches on the group and its promoters over three days at various locations in Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, and Delhi.
The ED is investigating alleged links between Rattan Kant Sharma and Vaibhav Gehlot, and it is anticipated that the agency will question and record Rattan Kant Sharma’s statement under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). It is worth noting that Rattan Kant Sharma had been a business partner of Vaibhav Gehlot in a car rental company in the past. During the searches, the ED seized unaccounted cash amounting to ₹1.2 crore.
The Congress party criticized the Central government for the ED’s actions against its leaders in Rajasthan. They accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using investigative agencies for political purposes and suggested that the people would respond to the BJP at the polls.
In response to the summons, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot stated that the Centre is misusing investigative agencies to target Congress leaders in Rajasthan, driven by the fear of the BJP’s defeat in the upcoming Assembly election. He expressed concerns about the ED’s actions against PCC president Govind Singh Dotasra and Congress candidate Om Prakash Hudla, noting that these raids were carried out without any formal complaints being filed.
Mr. Gehlot also questioned the timing of the ED’s actions, linking them to recent political developments. He asserted that the ED raids followed the announcement of two guarantees for the people during a rally led by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, with plans for five more guarantees to be announced soon. He humorously suggested that the ED should prepare a list of five more Congress leaders for potential future raids.
On October 26, the ED also conducted raids on the properties of Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra and the party’s candidate for the Mahua Assembly seat, Omprakash Hudla, as part of a money laundering investigation related to an alleged exam paper leak case in the upcoming State election. Searches were conducted at Mr. Dotasra’s locations in Sikar and Jaipur, as well as at the residence of Omprakash Hudla and others.
