The alleged economic offences case against Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and actor Amitabh Bachchan took a curious turn on Thursday, with the Enforcement Directorate asking for a copy of the first information report.
Uttar Pradesh cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said the state’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) already sent the documents to the ED, which is under the Union Finance Ministry.
Singh said the EOW had also referred the issue to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs and a report had been sought from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) about the companies mentioned in the FIR.
Earlier on October 15, Shivkant Tripathi, a lawyer, lodged an FIR against Singh and Bachchan at Babupurwa police station in Kanpur.
The state government referred the case to Kolkata Police for investigation, as all of them were registered there. But the Kolkata police refused to investigate the case.
Amar Singh, however, rebutted the charges, saying it was a conspiracy to malign his image. He said Tripathi’s charges were baseless. But the sudden involvement of the ED gave a fresh turn to the entire controversy.
{{/usCountry}}Amar Singh, however, rebutted the charges, saying it was a conspiracy to malign his image. He said Tripathi’s charges were baseless. But the sudden involvement of the ED gave a fresh turn to the entire controversy.
{{/usCountry}}The cabinet secretary said Amar Singh as chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Development Council (UPDC) during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government (2004-07) misused authority by doling out government contracts.
He claimed that the companies, which received the contracts and had neither the track records nor the capacity to handle the projects, were directly or indirectly connected with Amar Singh.