New Delhi, Aug. 21 (The Telegraph): The Union home ministry has concluded that Robert Vadra does not face any threat that warrants exemption from frisking at airports, setting the stage for the civil aviation ministry to decide whether to continue with the waiver that has drawn much derision.

"During a recent security review, we found that the threat perception does not require Vadra to be placed on the no-frisk list. We have communicated this to the civil aviation ministry and they have to take the call whether to remove his name from the list," a home ministry official said.

A committee of officials of the home ministry and the Intelligence Bureau had carried out the review last month.

The no-frisk list is prepared by the bureau of civil aviation security on the recommendation of the home ministry.

"The home ministry can only give recommendations to the civil aviation ministry based on inputs from security agencies but it is their decision to prune the list or not," said the spokesperson for the home ministry, K.S. Dhatwalia.

Under the current rule, Vadra is exempt from "pre-embarkation security checks" when travelling with his wife Priyanka Gandhi Vadra or his mother-in-law Sonia Gandhi or his brother-in-law Rahul Gandhi, who are protected by the Special Protection Group (SPG).

Last year, the civil aviation ministry had written to the home ministry to review the security status of Vadra.

Soon after assuming office last year, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had said that the waiver Vadra enjoyed could be reviewed, prompting Priyanka to write to the SPG director to withdraw the exemption for her whole family.

"Since the government is now reportedly considering the removal of his name, I would like to inform you that I do not feel it will be correct for my children and me to avail of the facility of exemption of these checks while entering or exiting the airport when we are all travelling together," Priyanka had said in her letter in June last year. "...You will appreciate that it makes no sense for a family travelling together to fall under different categories of exemption."

Reacting to Priyanka's letter, junior home minister Kiren Rijiju had said "one does not politicise security issues as security does not depend on the whims and fancies of any individual".

Keen to avoid charges of a witch-hunt, the NDA government has since then set in motion the review process that is now entering the last lap.

An official of the Central Industrial Security Force, which guards airports in the country, said today that Vadra's exemption was a "privilege" associated with the "VIP culture" in the country and it had little to do with security. "India is one of the few countries in world to have a list of VIPs and VVIPs exempt from security checks at airports," he added.

Vadra's name near security checkpoints at airports often becomes a subject of ridicule. CISF officials said they get several questions under the right to information act from people asking about the "favour" extended to the "damadji