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ED files plea with Ludhiana court to inspect new records of IT cases against Punjab CM, son
Enforcement directorate filed three applications before Ludhiana CJM after it learnt the income tax department had added new documents to the case files of Captain Amarinder Singh and Raninder Singh
Jalandhar: The enforcement directorate (ED) has filed three applications in a Ludhiana court for the inspection of new documents filed by the income tax department in the cases against Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his son Raninder Singh, it is learnt.
The applications were filed by the ED on August 14 before the chief judicial magistrate, Ludhiana, through special public prosecutor Lokesh Narang.
The court heard the matter on August 18 and its order says, “Papers put up before me being duty magistrate. Record not received. Same be awaited till 29.08.2020.”
The ED filed three applications after it learnt that the income tax department has placed fresh documents on the case files of Captain Amarinder Singh and Raninder Singh.
The ED wanted to inspect or obtain the documents to carry forward its investigation under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), ED sources confirmed, requesting anonymity. The ED has urged the court to allow it to inspect the case file.
Earlier, it had initiated action against Raninder under FEMA after the income tax department complained that he had lied under oath about trusts allegedly owned by him in Virgin Islands. Raninder had appeared before the ED in connection with a FEMA violation in 2016 also.
Hearing in the three income tax cases against Amarinder and Raninder are underway in the Ludhiana court. The next hearing in the case of the CM is on September 9, while Raninder’s cases would come up on September 10.
The IT department claimed Raninder misguided it during the probe and claimed he had documents related to the family’s income and trusts abroad. The IT department alleged that Raninder was a ‘settler’ of Jacaranda Trust, which the family formed.
Other undisclosed trusts include Mulwala Holdings Limited and Allworth Venture Holding Limited. The father and son also allegedly carried out ‘undisclosed’ financial transactions through a bank account in HSBC, Geneva, and HSBC Financial Services Limited (Middle East).
The IT department said the trusts were established in 2005 and most of the deals were routed through Virgin Islands. It submitted in the court that it has documents sourced from Virgin Islands that show Captain Amarinder Singh and his son Raninder are owners of Marine Mansions in Dubai and other properties in the United Kingdom.
Both Amarinder and Raninder had earlier denied any wrongdoing and termed the charges false. Hindustan Times sent an email to the ED headquarters for seeking its official response on the matter but no reply was received till Tuesday evening.
