BackHC asks CBI to file report on graft allegations against HP CM
A preliminary enquiry had alleged that chief minister Virbhadra Singh, during his earlier tenure, had indulged in graft, money laundering and forgery
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New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Wednesday asked Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a report giving details of probe and its status in a preliminary enquiry alleging Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, during his earlier tenure as CM and Union minister, indulged in graft, money laundering and forgery.
“The CBI is asked to file a fresh status report on or before 1 September," a bench of chief justice G Rohini and justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said.
Meanwhile, the Income Tax (IT) department filed the probe report and tax assessment details of the chief minister in two sealed covers and said the original IT records cannot be left in the court and can be produced on the next date of hearing. The chief minister, against whom the notice has not been issued on the PIL so far, was on Wednesday represented by senior lawyer and former law minister Kapil Sibal who alleged that orders had been passed “behind his back" and he be allowed to advance preliminary objections to the petition.
“This is not a public interest litigation. This is a personal interest litigation. All the proceedings are taking place behind my back. The issue of alleged Income Tax violations are pending before the Himachal Pradesh high court and this court has no jurisdiction over it," Sibal said.
Additional solicitor general Sanjay Jain and Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the Centre and petitioner NGO ‘Common Cause´ respectively, objected to Sibal’s plea saying that a notice be issued first before the chief minister is heard.
“This is an open and shut case. If the documents filed along with the petition are placed in trial, Virbhadra would surely get convicted for disproportionate assets, corruption and money laundering," Bhushan said. “I have learnt from a reliable source that the CBI director is opposed to registration of the FIR.
“The preliminary enquiry (PE) in this case was lodged nearly two years back," he said, adding that a five-judge Supreme Court bench had recently held that the fate of a PE has to be decided within a week.
Earlier, the Centre had said that a prima facie case of money laundering appears to be made out against Singh.
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