VAT scam: Petitioners’ lawyer gets ‘threat calls’

RAPRIA IS APPEARING FOR PETITIONERS WHO HAVE SOUGHT A CBI PROBE INTO THE SCAM CLAIMING IT TO BE WORTH ₹10,000 CRORE

CHANDIGARH: An advocate with Punjab and Haryana high court, Pardeep Rapria, who is appearing in the petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in alleged multi- crore VAT scam in Haryana, has claimed that he had received threat calls.

On Thursday, Rapria sent out a representation through email to Haryana chief minister, the state director general of police and Chandigarh administration, seeking investigations into the calls he had received from a purported Ambala mobile number.

Rapria is appearing for Kaithal resident, Raghbir Singh and Ajmer (Rajasthan) resident Shiv Sawhney, who have sought a CBI probe into the scam claiming it to be worth ₹10,000 crore. Haryana has registered 24 FIRs in two districts alone so far during investigations into it.

In the email, he has stated that he got a call on Thursday morning wherein the caller claimed that his son was being entangled into the investigations of scam and thus wanted to meet Rapria at his house. When Rapria insisted that the caller should meet him in the high court, he was told of “serious consequences”, the high court lawyer has said in his e-mail.

Rapria was also petitioner before the SC in a matter that led to the apex court ordering transparency in appointments of law officers of state governments.