HP CM's son moves HC for protection from arrest
New Delhi: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's son Vikramaditya on Wednesday moved Delhi High Court seeking direction to Enforcement Directorate (ED) not to arrest him during questioning in a money laundering case lodged against his father and others.
Vikramaditya has been asked to appear on September 30 by ED for questioning in connection with the case following his non-appearance for interrogation earlier. Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan appearing for the CM's son told Justice A K Pathak that he apprehends that his client may be detained during the questioning and hence he should be protected from arrest.
He contended that Vikramaditya's name was not mentioned in the FIR registered by the ED. The matter is fixed for hearing tomorrow before the bench which is already hearing the pleas filed earlier by Virbhadra and his wife. The agency had earlier recorded statement of Virbhadra's wife in the case last month. ED had also filed the first charge sheet in the case at a court here against arrested accused, LIC agent Anand Chauhan.
The agency had attached assets worth about Rs eight crore earlier this year. Virbhadra had denied the allegations of any wrongdoing by him and his family. ED had filed a case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by CBI in this regard in September last year.
ED is probing allegations against Virbhadra and his family members of having amassed wealth of Rs 6.1 crore which is alleged to be disproportionate to his known sources of income between 2009 and 2011 when he was the Union Minister of Steel. The CBI's FIR had named Virbhadra, his wife, Chauhan and his brother, who were all accused of violating the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. CBI FIR had said that during 2009-11, the chief minister bought life insurance policies worth Rs 6.1 crore in his and his family members' names through Chauhan claiming it came from his income from agriculture.-PTI