ED’s Niranjan Singh ‘chargesheeted’ over Diljit show at daughter’s wedding
: Enforcement Directorate (ED) deputy director Niranjan Singh, who investigated the Rs 6,000 crore synthetic Bhola drug case, has been ‘chargesheeted’ in a departmental inquiry in connection with Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh’s performance at his daughter’s wedding in 2016.
Singh retired from service on Monday.
An ED official privy to the development said Singh asked Dosanjh to perform at his daughter’s wedding even as he investigated a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations against the singer-actor.
“Singh purportedly made a payment of Rs 2 lakh to Diljit for the performance which is considerably lower than the amount he charges for such shows. By doing this, Niranjan Singh, the then assistant director, did not maintain integrity and misused his position,” he added.
When contacted, Singh admitted that the ED had begun an inquiry in the matter. “I had paid Rs 2 lakh to Dosanjh for the performance from my bank account,” he said.
On the timing of the probe, he said, “The ED chargesheeted me since I had approached the Punjab and Haryana high court against the agency in several cases. The Dosanjh case was transferred from me a year before my daughter’s marriage. Why should I book Diljit for marriage function if his case was with me,” he added, rejecting the allegations of any quid pro quo in the case.
In 2017, the ED had issued a show-cause notice to Dosanjh for an alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Management
Act (FEMA). In 2018, Niranjan Singh was cross examined in the Bhola drug case where the defence counsel also questioned over the expenditure incurred on his daughter’s marriage in 2016. Singh had said in a Mohali court that he had also probed complaints against singers Gippy Grewal and Jazzy B. “I am the only earning member of my family and in 2018 I had a monthly income of Rs. 1.5 lakh. He (Diljit) sang some songs probably on the demand of those present at the function. I do not remember how much I paid him. But I did make him some payment,” he had said.
The defence counsel had said that Diljit charged Rs 40 lakh for a performance.