The Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench is set to hear on Friday a petition filed against businessman Robert Vadra, husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, over his controversial remarks on the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir.
The plea, moved by the Hindu Front for Justice and others, seeks the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe Vadra’s statements, which allegedly linked the April 22 terror attack to communal tensions in the country. It also calls for legal action against him under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The matter was listed for hearing before a division bench comprising Justices Rajan Roy and Om Prakash Shukla on Wednesday but could not be taken up. It will now be heard on Friday.
Vadra, who is married to the daughter of Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and is the brother-in-law of party MP Rahul Gandhi, triggered controversy after suggesting that non-Muslims were targeted in the attack because terrorists feel that Muslims are being “mistreated” in India.
The April 22 attack, which occurred near a meadow in Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists, and left several others injured after terrorists opened fire indiscriminately.
The petitioners argue that Vadra’s remarks are divisive and potentially inflammatory, and warrant a thorough investigation.
