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ED files supplementary chargesheet against Ex-minister Dharamsot, 4 others in forest scam case
Earlier, the federal agency submitted its main chargesheet (prosecution complaint) against Dharamsot on March 13 last year, in which the charges had already been framed against him by the court.
The Jalandhar Enforcement Directorate has filed a supplementary chargesheet against former minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and four others, including his two sons, before the Special Court (PMLA), Mohali, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act related to the forest scam during the Congress regime from 2017 to 2022.
Dharamsot, who is presently out on bail, was arrested by the federal agency on January 15 last year. The agency had provisionally attached Dharamsot’s various properties to the tune of ₹4.58 crore in this case.
Earlier, the federal agency submitted its main chargesheet (prosecution complaint) against Dharamsot on March 13 last year, in which the charges had already been framed against him by the court.
Among the others named in the supplementary chargesheet are his sons Gurpreet Singh and Harpreet Singh, and two Punjab forest officers, Sukhwinder Singh and Mohinder Pal.
The central agency initiated an investigation based on two FIRs registered by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, with multiple irregularities detected in the functioning of the Punjab forest department.
An ED official said during the course of investigation, it came to fore that Dharamsot, during his tenure as forest minister during the Congress regime, allegedly demanded and accepted substantial bribes in lieu of granting permits for felling of Khair trees, affecting transfers and postings of officers in the forest department, and issuing no objection certificates (NOCs) from the department.
“Based on the investigation conducted so far, it has been established that Dharamsot acquired proceeds of crime (POC) amounting to ₹1.77 crore through such corrupt practices. Further investigation in the disproportionate assets case revealed that Dharamsot acquired POC worth ₹6.34 crore,” an official said.
ED probe further revealed that Sukhwinder Singh, forest ranger officer, and Mohinderpal Singh, block forest officer, allegedly embezzled government funds to the tune of ₹53.64 Lakh, allotted to Budhladha Forest Range for procurement of tree guards under the compensatory afforestation scheme.
“The investigation established that no procurement of tree guards was carried out. Instead, funds were routed to the bank accounts of casual workers and their family members and subsequently withdrawn in cash,” the probe found.
Earlier in July this year, ED had provisionally attached immovable property worth ₹53.64 lakh belonging to Sukhwinder Singh, who was arrested by the vigilance bureau in August 2022 for alleged embezzlement of ₹45.69 lakh meant for cemented tree guards and ₹7 lakh for bamboo tree guards in connivance with the then divisional forest officer of Mansa and others.
According to the VB probe, the accused allegedly prepared fake bills of bogus firms and withdrew the money by diverting government funds to different bank accounts.
The VB probe has revealed that in 2021, under the compensatory afforestation scheme, the principal chief conservator, Punjab, had approved the forest range, Mansa, for the procurement of 5,872 RCC tree guards, out of which 2,537 tree guards were to be prepared by the forest range officer, Mansa. Sukhwinder showed the purchase of 2,537 cemented tree guards from two private firms in Sangrur and Patiala and obtained purchase bills from these firms. During the investigation into the GST numbers and contact numbers of these firms written on their bills, it was found that no firm exists with the present addresses, the VB probe said.
