Vadra retains pride of place in frisking list

Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra is still entitled to the exalted frisking exemption at the airport. However, he can enjoy this privilege while travelling with his wife Priyanka Gandhi, his mom-in-law Sonia Gandhi, Rahul or any of the SPG Protectees.

In a reply to an RTI filed by Aseem Takyar, an RTI activist, in which the applicant asked about the persons exempted from pre-embarkation security check, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) in its reply provided a list of 33 on February 10, in which it was revealed that Vadra is still entitled to this privilege. The RTI reply said: “Robert Vadra, while traveling with SPG protectees” is entitled to get the exemption from the pre-embarkation security check.Vadra is the only private person on the list of 33 exempted people, which includes the Chief Justice of India, former Presidents, the Lok Sabha Speaker and Supreme Court judges. Meanwhile, on November 2014, the aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had reportedly asked the aviation officials to trim down the existing list of people exempt from security checks at airports, according to a report.