Priyanka Gandhi Vadra"s Shimla Land Deal to be Made Public Under RTI

Shimla:  The details of how Priyanka Gandhi Vadra bought land near Shimla nearly eight years ago must be revealed within 10 days, the top most officers of the Information Commission of Himachal Pradesh have ruled today.

Mrs Vadra is the daughter of Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress, which is in power in Himachal Pradesh.

Information on her real estate purchase in Himachal Pradesh was sought last year by Debashish Bhattacharya, a Right to Information (RTI) activist. Information Commission officials had said the details should be shared, but the officer handling the RTI application did not comply. Mrs Vadra, 43, wrote to the state government through her lawyers, claiming that the details should be kept confidential for security reasons.

Mrs Vadra, whose father and grandmother Rajiv and Indira were Prime Minister and assassinated, is guarded by the Special Protection Group or SPG.

The State Information Commission today said that her land transaction must be revealed under the RTI. Some reports suggest that she bought one acre near Shimla in 2007 for about 47 lakhs.

The BJP has said that Mrs Vadra’s husband, Robert, will be investigated for illicit land deals in Haryana where his mother-in-law’s party was in power till late last year, when it lost the election.