Court orders Virbhadra Singh to appear in Disproportionate Assets Case

A Delhi court on Monday directed former chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh, to appear before it on January 29 in the disproportionate assets case.

The Patiala House Court, in December, had ordered framing of charges against the former chief minister for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets worth Rs 10 crores in CBI case.

Singh's counsel on Monday moved an application in the court, stating that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not handed them all the documents of the charges in the money laundering case.

However, special public prosecutors N K Matta and Nitesh Rana, appearing for the ED, told the judges that most of the dossiers, including copies of the charge sheet, have already been handed over to the counsel of the accused.

The court has now posted the matter for January 29 for ED and CBI cases against them.

The ED has alleged that the former Himachal Pradesh chief minister has used "bogus entries" for transfer of the illegal money.

The ED filed a case based on the CBI's first information report, which accused Singh and his kin of allegedly accumulating assets, while he was serving as the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises under the UPA government in 2011.

As per the ED, the assets were purchased in the name of Singh's close family members and were found to be disproportionate to his known sources of income.