Virbhadra appears before ED in Delhi
NEW DELHI: Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here on Thursday in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others.
Singh arrived at the agency’s office here in his official car, with a covered beacon, at noon.
Sporting his trademark ‘Himachali topi’, the chief minister did not interact with media persons on the spot and was seen raising his fist in the air and reciting some lines of a patriotic poem: “Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hain, dekhna hai zor kitna baju e qaatil mein hai.”
The agency had summoned Singh in order to record his statement in the case and also confront him with some documents it had seized and recovered in the case of disproportionate assets.
The CM, last week, had also sent a communication to the agency stating his reasons for not being able to appear before it all this while and had sought a new date from it, after which the new summons were issued for Thursday. The ED had on Wednesday refused to give any assurance in the Delhi HC that it will not arrest Singh when he appears before it.
The submission was made before justice RK Gauba by the ED during the hearing of Singh’s plea for quashing of the money laundering proceedings.
The ED summons have come close on the heels of filing of a charge sheet by the CBI against Singh, his wife and others for allegedly amassing assets worth around ₹10 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income.
The agency had summoned Singh earlier also, but then he had excused himself stating he had official commitments.
The ED has already questioned his wife Pratibha and son Vikramaditya in connection with the case.