FEMA violation: ED summons CM’S son
Raninder asked to appear before the agency on October 27
JALANDHAR: The Enforcement Directorate ( ED) has summoned Raninder Singh, son of Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, in an ongoing case of alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act ( FEMA) violation. ED officials told HT that Raninder had been asked to appear before it on October 27, at its zonal office in Jalandhar. In July 2016, Raninder had appeared before the ED in the same case.
The central agency had initiated action against Raninder under FEMA after the income tax ( I- T) department filed a complaint in a Ludhiana court that he had lied under oath about trusts allegedly owned by him in Virgin Islands. The I-T department claimed Raninder had misguided it by claiming that he had documents related to the family’s income and trusts abroad.
The I- T department alleged that Raninder was a ‘settler’ of Jacaranda Trust, which the family had formed with other undisclosed trusts. The department also claimed that the trusts were set up in 2005.
The I-T department also submitted in court that it has documents sourced from Virgin Islands that show Amarinder and his son Raninder as owners of Marine Mansions in Dubai and other properties in the UK.
Both Amarinder and Raninder have maintained they are not involved in any illegality, and rubbished charges as false.
In August this year, the Enforcement Directorate filed three applications in a Ludhiana court for the inspection of new documents that the I- T had filed in cases against Amarinder and Raninder. The matter is pending.
Congress party insiders said the summons to Raninder was just pure political vendetta by the BJP- led central government. Senior party leaders have also questioned the timing of the development, as the Amarinder-led Punjab government has passed new farm laws to counter Central legislation.
HT made several attempts to reach Raninder for comments through his aides and by dropping a message on his mobile, but he did respond. Amarinder’s media advisor Raveen Thukral refused to comment.