Rahul Gandhi under fire for renting out farm house to scam-accused company

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are facing questions of impropriety for renting out their farm house to a company that was being investigated for possible fraud. The BJP has accused Rahul Gandhi of accepting a bribe from the company in the form of rent for the farm house.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had in the last week of November sought details of the transaction from the company, The Indian Express reported. The Gandhi siblings had rented the farm house, in Delhi's Mehrauli, out to Financial Technologies (India) Limited (FTIL), which owned National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL).

NSEL was being investigated for irregularities including fraud and default. The rent agreement was terminated in October 2013, after the NSEL scam was made public in July.

The Gandhis received rent of Rs 6.7 lakh per month and a refundable deposit of Rs 40.2 lakh, the report said.

The alleged impropriety on the part of the Gandhis arises from the timing, since the UPA was in power and had in 2007 granted NSEL exemption from regulation under the Forward Contracts Regulation Act. NSEL allegedly violated the terms under which this exemption was granted, and received a showcause notice in April 2012. No action was taken on this till June 2013.

It was in this period that the Gandhis rented out their farm house to NSEL owner FTIL.

The BJP has alleged that rent for the farmhouse was only a way of funnelling a bribe to the Gandhis. "Corruption and Congress Party are synonymous. And, of course, Congress is equal to Rahul, as Rahul Gandhi has himself proclaimed. So, corruption is equal to Rahul Gandhi," said BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra at a press conference on Monday.

However, the Congress has defended the transaction saying it was routine and there was nothing suspicious about it. It also said Rahul Gandhi had declared the rent income and had paid income tax.