Court reserves order on LIC agent’s bail plea

The Patiala House Court on Tuesday reserved the order on the bail plea of LIC agent Anand Chauhan, in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case for December 23.

Earlier, the hearing on Chauhan’s bail plea had been adjourned for December 19 by the Patiala House Court.

Chauhan was granted an interim bail by a special court from November 25 to December 5.

The court granted relief to him for attending a wedding of his niece.

Advocate Tarannum Cheema, who moved the plea on behalf of Chauhan, had sought the relief for her client for 15 days.

Chauhan was arrested in July last year in Chandigarh by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), under the provisions of the PMLA, for not cooperating with the agency.

The ED in September, last year, had filed a chargesheet against Chauhan in the money laundering case, also involving Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh and others.

He was instrumental in investing ₹5 crore in LIC polices in the name of the Singh, including his wife and children.

Under the PMLA, which is a criminal law, the ED is empowered to conduct investigations to trace assets, derived out of the proceeds of crime, to provisionally attach and confiscate the same, and to arrest and prosecute the offenders, found to be involved in money laundering.