Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor has told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that he was “forced” to buy an MF Husain painting from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the sale proceeds of which were used for Sonia Gandhi’s treatment, media reports said.

This was mentioned in the chargesheet filed by the central anti-money laundering agency in a special court here.

Kapoor said he was told by the then petroleum minister Murli Deora that refusing the same would prevent him from building a relationship with the Gandhi family and also prevent him from getting the Padma Bhushan award.

The statements of Rana Kapoor are part of the second supplementary charge sheet filed in the special court here recently against him and his family, in a money laundering case.

Kapoor had paid a cheque of Rs. 2 crores, the sales proceeds of which were utilised for the medical treatment of Sonia Gandhi in New York, the charge sheet stated.

Kapoor claimed that Milind Deora, son of the late Murli Deora and former Congress MP, had later conveyed to him this information confidentially.

In the charge sheet, he further stated that later, in the year 2010, Murli Deora forced him to meet for a vegetarian dinner (Marwari dinner) at his Lodhi Estate Bungalow in New Delhi.

He was Petroleum Minister at that time and had been allotted this bungalow in that capacity, Kapoor said, as per the chargesheet.

During that meeting, the late Murli Deora told him that any further delay in purchasing the painting could have adverse repercussions on Yes Bank and it could jeopardise his relationship with the Deora family.